Matt Desrosiers

With Matt Desrosiers leading the way as Head Coach for the Golden Knights the past 13 seasons, Clarkson University Women’s Hockey has been established as one of the premier programs in the NCAA.

Under Desrosiers guidance, Clarkson has posted ten 20+-win seasons, including the past nine of the past 10, five 30-win campaigns in the past eight years, won four ECAC Hockey regular season titles, earned three conference tournament championships, made nine NCAA Tournament showings, advanced to the NCAA Frozen Four five times, and won it all with the 2014, 2017 and 2018 NCAA National Championships.

Clarkson has posted a .720 win percentage since Desrosiers assumed the head coaching role in 2008, posting a 320-116-50 record under his watch.

Last year was a difficult year based on the COVID pandemic, but the Knights were one of 4 teams to pull off a season in the ECAC. Due to travel restrictions and a lack of teams to play, the Knights ended up playing Colgate 10 of their 19 contests. Despite the hurdles, the Knights managed to an 8-10-1 record, losing to SLU in the ECAC semi-finals.

During the 2019-20 season, the Knights skated to a 25-6-6 overall record and placed third in the ECAC Hockey standings with a 14-4-4 league mark. Clarkson advanced to its eighth straight conference championship tournament and was set for another NCAA Tournament run before the COVID 19 pandemic forced an abrupt end to the college hockey season in early March.

In 2018-19, the Knights challenged for their fourth NCAA Title and third consecutive national crown advancing to the Frozen Four for the fourth consecutive year. Desrosiers guided the Green and Gold to their fourth straight 30-win campaign with a 30-8-2 overall record. Clarkson won its third consecutive ECAC Hockey Tournament Championship and finished tied for second in the conference standings, three points shy of the top spot, with 16-5-1 league mark.

In 2017-18, Desrosiers earned ECAC Hockey Coach of the Year honors for the third time after guiding Clarkson to its finest season ever with a 36-4-1 overall record, capped off by the program's second consecutive National Championship and the third NCAA title in five years. The Green and Gold also won both the ECAC Hockey Regular Season (19-1-2) and Tournament Championships.

Clarkson won the program’s second National Championship in 2016-17 to close out a 32-4-5 season, including a first-place 19-1-2 ECAC Hockey slate. The Knights also won their first ECAC Hockey Championship Tournament title in 2016-17.

In 2015-16, Desrosiers guided the Knights to the 30-win mark for the second time in the 13-year history of the program and moved on to the NCAA Frozen Four for the second time in three years. Clarkson finished with 30-5-5 overall and battled for its third straight ECAC Hockey regular season title in 2015-16, finishing in second place, three points out of the top spot, with a 14-3-5 league mark.

In his first year as solo head coach, Desrosiers continued to lead the Green and Gold to success in 2014-15, much as he did when he shared the coaching duties with his wife, Shannon, for the previous six years. Clarkson skated to a 24-11-3 overall record, claimed a share of the ECAC Hockey regular season title with a 16-4-2 conference mark, earned the number one seed in the league playoffs and made its third consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament.

In 2013-14 Clarkson reached the pinnacle of accomplishments in Division I women’s hockey when the Knights earned the University’s first-ever NCAA Championship. The Green and Gold won the ECAC Hockey Regular Season title with a 16-2-4 league mark and capped off a 31-5-5 overall record with a 5-4 victory over two-time defending national champion Minnesota in the NCAA Championship game.

Desrosiers, served two years as an assistant on the Clarkson coaching staff from 2006-08 prior to being elevated to co-head coach in 2008-09. Desrosiers and his staff won the ECAC Hockey Coach of the Year Award three times – 2014, 2015, and 2018. He has been a NCAA Coach of the Year Finalist eight times.

Numerous players have gained all-star recognition under Desrosiers’ guidance, including Jamie Lee Rattray ’14, Loren Gabel ‘19 and Elizabeth Giguere '21, who have won women’s college hockey’s highest honor - the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award in 2014 and 2019, respectively. Cayley Mercer ’17 was a Top 3 Finalist for the prestigious award in 2017, and Gabel was a Top 3 Finalist in 2018. Erin Ambrose ’16, Savannah Harmon ’18, Shea Tiley ’18 and Elizabeth Giguere ’21 were Top 10 Kazmaier nominees.

Eight Golden Knights – Ambrose, Gabel (2), Giguere (3), Harmon (2), Cayley Mercer, Rattray, Ella Shelton and Tiley - have gained All-America honors. Vanessa Gagnon ’14 was named the winner of the NCAA Elite 89, Mandi Schwartz Student-Athlete of the Year and Sarah Devens Award in 2014. Tiley was the Mandi Schwartz Student-Athlete of the Year and Sarah Devens Award winner in 2018. Numerous Clarkson have earned ECAC Hockey All-Star honors.

Desrosiers also has international coaching experience having served on the staff of Hockey Canada’s 2019 World Championship team and on Hockey Canada’s National Development Team in 2017-18.

No stranger to ECAC Hockey or the North Country, Desrosiers played at St. Lawrence University and joined the college coaching ranks after playing professional hockey for several years.

A four-year standout on defense at St. Lawrence from 1997-2001, Desrosiers helped the Saints reach the Frozen Four as a junior and gained ECAC and All-America honors as a senior. The Fort Erie, Ontario native was also named an ECAC Robbins Scholar Athlete of the Year in 2001. Desrosiers played five years of professional hockey after graduating from St. Lawrence in 2001. He played in two East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) All-Star games (2002, 2003) representing the Dayton Bombers and the South Carolina Stingrays. He played two seasons in the Central Hockey League (CHL) and helped lead the Colorado Eagles to the 2005 President’s Cup Championship.

Matt and Shannon have a daughter, Brynlee, and son, Brodee.