Stonehill has named Lee-J Mirasolo as the second women’s hockey head coach in the program’s young history.
Mirasolo replaces Tara Watchorn, who was named head coach at Boston University earlier this offseason.
“We are excited to welcome Lee-J Mirasolo to Stonehill as the next head coach of our women’s ice hockey program,” said Stonehill assistant VP and director of athletics Dean O’Keefe in a statement. “Lee-J’s name quickly rose to the top of our search with her experience coaching and playing at the highest levels of women’s college hockey in the Northeast. She brings great energy and passion for the sport and will be a tremendous leader and mentor for our young student-athletes as the program continues to grow and build its culture for success both on and off the ice.”
Mirasolo, the 2021 AHCA assistant coach of the year, brings 13 years of coaching experience in women’s college hockey to Stonehill, the last 12 years at the NCAA Division I level. She most recently served eight years as associate head coach at Harvard, helping the Crimson rebuild from a team that posted five wins in 2016-17 to hosting and winning the ECAC quarterfinals in just three years, before sweeping the Beanpot, Ivy League and ECAC regular-season championships in 2021-22 with a 22-10-1 record overall, including 16-5-1 in the ECAC on their way to an NCAA tournament bid.
Overall at Harvard, she assisted a program that won 94 games over her seven seasons, with six ECAC tournament appearances.
“I am thrilled to be joining the Stonehill women’s ice hockey program and the broader campus community,” said Mirasolo. “Everything I understood Stonehill to be from a distance – supportive, welcoming, and connected – proved to be exactly as it was up close and in person.
“It is obvious that the student-athletes have worked extremely hard to hit the ground running as a program, and I am so fortunate to join and serve them in this endeavor. I am grateful to Dean O’Keefe, Cindy MacDonald, Pauline Dobrowski, and the entire search committee for their belief in me and the vision for the program. I certainly did not arrive at Stonehill on my own, as many coaches, players, family, and friends have taught and supported me along this journey. I am humbled by this opportunity and look forward to the road ahead.”
Prior to her time at Harvard, Mirasolo served four years as assistant coach at Princeton, helping rebuild the Tigers to the national stage by implementing a recruiting plan that spanned North America. She helped Princeton win 52 games over four seasons, with three ECAC tournament appearances, including back-to-back winning campaigns her final two years and a 13-8-1 ECAC mark in 2014-15.
Mirasolo got her collegiate coaching start at UMass Boston for the 2010-11 season, with the Beacons posting a 14-11-1 record overall, including 9-8-1 in the ECAC East, reaching the conference semifinals.
In addition to her assistant coaching stint with the USA Hockey Collegiate Development Team from 2020 to 2022, she coached with USA Hockey Development Camps at the U-18 Select, U-15 and U-14 camps for nine years. Mirasolo started her coaching career at Phillips Academy Andover as an assistant coach for the 2009-10 season.
Mirasolo is a 2008 graduate of Boston College, where she was a four-year member of the Eagles women’s hockey program, serving as captain as a senior. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication and was voted the team’s Unsung Hero for the 2007-08 season and earned Hockey East All-Academic Team honors. Mirasolo helped lead BC to back-to-back 20-win campaigns during her sophomore and junior seasons, a pair of Beanpot championships, and spots in the 2006 Hockey East championship game and 2007 Women’s Frozen Four in Lake Placid.
