Jim Plumer, who led Amherst College to the school's first Women’s NCAA Division III Ice Hockey Championship, has been voted by his peers as the Division III Women’s Ice Hockey Coach of the Year for the 2008-2009 season. The Jeffs went 24-5-0, defeating the three schools who had won all seven previous NCAA Division III Ice Hockey titles en route to this year's honors.

In the opening round, Amherst defeated two-time defnding NCAA champion, Plattsburgh State, by a 4-1 score. In the semifinals, played at Middlebury College, Amherst bested the host Panthers, winners of the 2004, 2005, and 2006 tournments, 3-2. And in the championship game on March 21, it was Amherst edging Elmira, 4-3 in overtime, matching the score of their mid-season meeting. Elmira won the first two NCAA Division III Ice Hockey titles in 2002 and 2003.

Plumer came to Amherst in 2003 after serving as an assistant at Bowdoin College, helping the Polar Bears into the NCAA championship round on two occasions. A 1983 graduate of Colby College, Plumer has a career record of 95-55-12 in six seasons with the Jeffs. The runner-up for this year’s award was Joe Cranston from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.

The Coach of the Year Award is chosen by members of the American Hockey Coaches Association and will be presented on April 25 at the Coach of the Year Celebration in Naples, Florida, as part of the annual AHCA Convention.