Sarnia’s Ron Fogarty has been named head coach of the men’s hockey team at Princeton.
The St. Patrick’s High School grad and former Sarnia Ranson Bee forward leads all active NCAA coaches in win percentage, but takes over a struggling hockey program at the famed Ivy League university.
Fogarty is the son of Mike and Diane Fogarty of Sarnia.
“We are so proud of him, and so happy for Ron and (wife) Monica, said his mom. “We are beaming today, just beaming.”
While attending St. Pat’s Fogarty landed a hockey scholarship to Colgate University. He played four seasons in the NCAA in the early ‘90s before stints of minor pro with the Toledo Storm and Memphis River Kings.
Fogarty’s son Jordan is followed in his father’s footsteps by playing for the Junior “B” Sarnia Legionnaires.
Jordan Fogarty, who wear’s dad’s #15, is expected to return in September for another season while bunking with his grandparents.
Sarnia is where Fogarty first got his first taste of coaching, return from Colgate in summer to be bench boss of the Bluewater Sharks Bantam AAAs.
In two seasons he compiled a 57-19-3 record and was named Coach of the Year.
Fogarty has risen rapidly in the U.S. collegiate fraternity.
He coached three years at Colgate before launching the hockey program at Division III Adrian College in Michigan, where he has been the team’s head coach since 2007.
In seven seasons he compiled a 167-23-10 record, taking Adrian to six regular-season championships and four appearances in the NCAA tournament.
He was the MCHA Coach of the Year three times, and was a four-time finalist for national coach of the year.
The new job won’t be easy. Princeton made trips to the NCAAs in 2008 and 2009 but finished dead last in the Division I ECAC last year with a record of 6-26-0.
“I look forward to building a program that will consistently compete for Ivy League and ECAC championships,” Fogarty said in a release.
“Our players will be recognized for excellence in the classroom, ambassadors for the university in the community and relentless competitors on the ice.”
- George Mathewson