Tara Watchorn named head coach of BU women’s hockey team

After one hockey season at Stonehill, Tara Watchorn is headed back to BU. (Pardo Photo)

After two years of building Stonehill’s Division 1 women’s ice hockey program, Tara Watchorn is going back to where it all began.

Boston University announced Monday that Watchorn was hired to lead the BU women’s hockey team. She replaces Brian Durocher, who announced his retirement in February after leading the team for 18 years.

Watchorn was hired at Stonehill in May 2021. The school gave her the entire 2021-22 season to recruit players and build the program. That all paid off this winter when Watchorn’s start-up Skyhawks went an impressive 17-15-2.

She was named 2023 New England Women’s Hockey Alliance (NEWHA) Coach of the Year and was a finalist for the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Division 1 National Coach of the Year.

Before arriving at Stonehill, Watchorn was an assistant on Durocher’s staff for four seasons.

Watchorn played under Durocher as a defender from 2008-12, amassing 84 points in 124 games while winning two Hockey East championships. She led the Terriers to a Frozen Four appearance in 2011.

STARTING FROM SCRATCH: How Tara Watchorn built Stonehill women’s hockey in one season

In 2014, she won an Olympic gold medal playing for Team Canada. She logged 11 years for Team Canada, winning three IIHF Women’s World Championship silver medals in 2011, 2015 and 2016, as well as two gold medals at the 4 Nations Cup in 2013 and 2014.

In 2015, she was named Canadian Women’s Hockey League (CWHL) Defenseman of the Year. She spent five seasons in the CWHL.