Kevin Houle, who led Plattsburgh State to its second consecutive Women’s NCAA Division III Championship, has been voted by his peers as the Division III Women’s Ice Hockey Coach of the Year for the third year in a row. The Cardinals went 25-3-1, downing Elmira (2-0) and Manhattanville (3-2) in the NCAA Tournament. The semifinal win over Elmira was particularly satisfying as Elmira had denied Plattsburgh a third straight ECAC West Tournament crown.The Cardinals did win their fifth straight ECAC-West Division regular season championship.

In winning back-to-back NCAA titles, Houle, who is 121-19-7 in five seasons at the school, joins elite company as only Middlebury and Elmira had multiple championships at this level of NCAA play.

In addition to his successful season at Plattsburgh, Houle was named as an assitant coach on this year’s U.S. Women’s National Team. He served with head coach Jackie Barto’s squad in Sweden in the fall and is currently in China for the 2008 World Championships. 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 Lauren McAuliffe, first-year head coach at Manhattanville College, and Dan Laughlin, head coach at the University of Wisconsin-Superior.

The Coach of the Year Award is chosen by members of the American Hockey Coaches Association and will be presented on April 26 at the Coach of the Year Celebration in Naples, Florida, as part of the annual AHCA Convention.