ELMIRA, N.Y. – The Elmira College Department of Athletics announced the resignation of head men's golf and assistant men's ice hockey coach
Mike Zannella, which will be effective on September 9, 2022.
During his five full seasons leading the Purple & Gold Men's Golf team, Zannella helped the Soaring Eagles to two all-conference selections in Alex Crysler '21 (2021), and most recently
Nicholas Domitrovic '24 (2022). This past season, Elmira placed 5
th in the Empire 8 Tournament.
During his five seasons, Zannella helped the Soaring Eagles to a Cobleskill Jug Classic championship after his squad placed first with a score of 323, an 11-stroke advantage over runner-up Keuka College. During his time, the Soaring Eagles finished 5
th in the Empire 8 Tournament on three occasions (2020, 2021, and 2022).
"I would like to thank Mike for his hard work and dedication to not only Men's Ice Hockey and Golf, but to the athletic department as a whole.", said
Rhonda Faunce, Director of Athletics. "Mike leaves our Athletics department in a much better place than when he started five years ago, and I could not be more excited for him to embark on his next journey"
On the Men's Ice Hockey side, Zannella assisted the Soaring Eagles to some of its best seasons in recent history under head coach
Aaron Saul '98. This past season, Zannella helped guide EC to the NCAA Division III Tournament for the first time since 2012. Elmira finished the season with a 18-7-2 overall record, and reached as high as No. 6 in the U.S. College Hockey Online (USCHO) rankings, which was the highest for the program in the last decade. The Soaring Eagles knocked off five nationally ranked opponents that included No. 1 SUNY Geneseo on the road, No. 6 Babson College, No. 6 Hobart College, No. 8 Norwich University and No. 15 UMass Boston.
In 2021, Zannella was a part of the United Collegiate Hockey Conference Tournament title team, which won its first and only championship in its last season of competition in the conference.
In 2017 and 2018, the Soaring Eagles advanced to the UCHC Tournament finals, his first two seasons with the program.
