There's been quite the shake-up in the prep hockey universe. Dexter Southfield announced that former Cushing boys hockey coach Paul Pearl will be its next athletic director. Pearl has an extensive career in coaching hockey. The Winthrop, Mass., native began his coaching career as an assistant coach at UConn from 1992-94, before moving on to...
There's been quite the shake-up in the prep hockey universe.
Dexter Southfield announced that former Cushing boys hockey coach Paul Pearl will be its next athletic director.
Pearl has an extensive career in coaching hockey. The Winthrop, Mass., native began his coaching career as an assistant coach at UConn from 1992-94, before moving on to Holy Cross. There, he was head coach for 19 seasons.
In 2014, he transitioned to Harvard to become the associate head coach and in 2018, he moved to the same position at Boston University.
After the 2020-21 season, Pearl was hired at Cushing, where he's been for the past three seasons. During that time, Pearl has always recruited talented teams. He has guided Cushing to the No. 1 seed in the Elite 8 Tournament in the last two seasons and reached the championship game both times.
Along with that, Pearl is the director of player development for Mass. Hockey.
Pearl has a connection to Dexter — his son, Bobby (Wakefield, Mass.), went there before playing at Bowdoin.
"The age group Dexter Southfield serves is a magical time in children's lives to engage in athletics," Pearl said in the release. "The character development, teamwork, and life lessons learned are profound, and I would be thrilled to be part of enhancing that experience for Dexter Southfield's boys and girls."
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Pearl will take over for Brian McColgan, who had been the athletic director.
According to the release, McColgan "has expressed his desire to return to coaching and more daily interactions with students and teams." McColgan was on Dexter boys hockey head coach Danny Donato's coaching staff this winter and will continue to do so, as well as move into a director of athletic operations role.
McColgan had a standout career at St. Lawrence as a defenseman from 1984-88. At just 5-foot-7, McColgan helped the Saints get to two straight NCAA Tournament appearances, including the 1988 championship game.
He was a first-team All America and first-team All ECAC selection when he was a senior. That season, McColgan posted 17 goals and 49 points in 36 games. He's one of just three defensemen in St. Lawrence history to score 100 or more career points.
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In 2015, he was inducted into the St. Lawrence hall of fame.
Dexter head of school Todd A. Vincent said the search for the athletic director started in the fall and spanned nationwide.
Pearl will begin as athletic director in late April. The search for a new Cushing boys coach will begin immediately.
