June
27, 2003
Pearl
Steps Down at Holy Cross
By
Nate Ewell
After eight years of
taking the Holy Cross hockey team from a Division III program
to a MAAC title contender, Paul Pearl has decided to step down
as the Crusaders’ head coach. With an eye towards spending
more time with his family, Pearl will become an assistant athletic
director, hockey coach and admissions officer at Milton Academy
in Milton, Mass.
“These have been
the greatest eight years of my life, and I’ve loved it,”
Pearl told Inside College Hockey on Friday. “It’s
a lifestyle decision. I’ve got my wife, Karen, a three-year-old
(Bobby) and a one-year-old (Katie) at home, and when I looked
at the whole scope of recruiting, traveling, and all that goes
into college coaching, this was the best decision for me.”
“I was stunned
and saddened to hear,” Mercyhurst head coach Rick Gotkin
said of Pearl’s decision. “Obviously Paul Pearl is
a great hockey coach. The MAAC and all of college hockey is going
to miss him, but I trust that this is a good move for him.”
Pearl oversaw the Crusaders’
ascendance to the Division I ranks, and led them to the playoff
championship in the first year of the MAAC (1998-99). He posted
a 116-114-19 record in eight seasons.
“Winning the
MAAC championship in 1999 obviously was a highlight from a hockey
standpoint,” Pearl said. “And working our way up the
last couple of years and being a successful team – without
scholarships in a league that has scholarships – was rewarding
as well.”
After back-to-back
eight-win seasons in 1999-2000 and 2000-01, Pearl returned the
Crusaders to the top half of the MAAC standings in the past two
years. They have posted consecutive 17-win seasons, including
14 conference victories each year, in both 2001-02 and 2002-03.
Pearl earned conference
coach of the year honors after a surprising second-place MAAC
finish in 2001-02, and Holy Cross tied for third in the league
this past season. Pearl coached the MAAC Offensive Player of the
Year each of the past two years (Pat Rismiller and Brandon Doria).
Despite the loss of
Doria to graduation, Pearl doesn’t leave the cupboard bare
for his successor. The next 11 highest scorers on the 2002-03
roster all return, and goaltender Tony Quesada will be a sophomore
this fall.
“From a pure
hockey standpoint, this is an incredibly tough decision,”
Pearl said. “This is a pretty good team that’s coming
back, and it’s a great group of kids.”
Holy Cross will almost
certainly open a search for Pearl’s replacement, but he
offered an endorsement for assistant coach Terrence Butt, a 1995
graduate of the school.
“I hope
it’s my assistant, Terrence Butt,” Pearl said. “He’s
intelligent, hard-working, and he knows the game. He deserves
it.”
