Kevin Houle, who led Plattsburgh State into its first-ever Women’s NCAA Division III Championship title game, has been voted by his peers as the Division III Women’s Ice Hockey Coach of the Year. The Cardinals went 26-3-1, setting a school record for wins and winning percentage while ranking number one in the country for most of the season.

The Cardinals won their third straight ECAC-West Division regular season championship, going 12-0 in conference play, and captured their first-ever ECAC-West tournament title. The record-setting season was all the more impressive in that Plattsburgh skated 10 freshmen on a regular basis.

Houle, who is 69-16-4 in three seasons at the school, was named the conference’s coach of the year, as he produced three All-Americans in junior goalie Breanne Doyle (First Team East), senior forward Jenn Clarke (First Team East) and freshman forward Danielle Blanchard (Second Team East). Houle is a 1986 graduate of Boston College, where he lettered for four years for coach Len Ceglarski.

The runners-up for this year’s award were Brian Idalski of UW-Stevens Point and three-time winner Bill Mandigo of Middlebury College. Other finalists for the award were Mike Carroll, Gustavus Adolphus; David Flint, Saint Anselm; Dan Laughlin, Wisconsin-Superior; and David Venditti, Colby College

The Coach of the Year Award is chosen by members of the American Hockey Coaches Association and will be presented on April 29 at the Coach of the Year Celebration in Naples, Florida, as part of the annual AHCA Convention.