Dean Jackson ’03 enters his fifth year as the head women's ice hockey coach and his 10th season as the head men’s golf coach.
ICE HOCKEY
In his first year at the helm of the women’s ice hockey program, Jackson led the Soaring Eagles to their third NCAA title in program history. The 2012-13 team finished the season with a 24-5-1 overall record; Elmira’s 24 victories are tied for second most in program history. Elmira also finished the season ranked No. 1 in the USCHO.com poll for the first time in eight years. For his efforts Jackson was named the D3HOCKEY.COM National Coach of the Year, CaptainU National Coach of the Year, and was a finalist for the American Hockey Coaches Association (ACHA) Division III Coach of the Year award.
In 2012-13, Jackson coached Lauren Sullivan ’13, the nation’s leader in Goals-Against Average (GAA) and shutouts. His team ranked first in the nation in scoring defense, second in penalty kill, and fourth in scoring offense. Maybe more impressive is the fact that Jackson became the first NCAA women’s ice hockey coach, in any division, to lead a team to a national championship without a single All-American selection.
In 2013-14, Jackson led the Soaring Eagles to another ECAC West Finals appearance as well as Elmira’s second consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament. He coached the 2013-14 Defensive Player of the Year in Brooke Wilgosh ’15, as well as three AHCA All-Americans in Wilgosh, Ashley Ryan ’15 and Tanis Lamoureux ’14. His 2013-14 squad was the only team to earn a win against eventual NCAA Tournament Champions, SUNY Plattsburgh.
The 2014-15 season was a special one for Jackson and the Soaring Eagles. He led Elmira to a program-best 23-win regular season, as he guided the Purple and Gold to a 23-1-1 regular season record, and eventually a 26-3-1 overall record. Elmira also posted a perfect 18-0-0 mark in ECAC West Conference games, the first flawless conference record by an ECAC West team since 2005-06. It also marked the first time in ECAC West history that a conference team had won 18 league games since the conference expanded to 10 teams.
Jackson not only guided Elmira to their highest regular season win total, he would also help the Soaring Eagles reach the ECAC West Conference Championship Game for a third consecutive year, as well as Elmira’s second NCAA Division III Championship Game appearance in the last three years, and EC’s 300th win in program history. Additionally, Jackson became the fastest coach to record 50 wins in Elmira history, doing so in 63 games. For his efforts in 2014-15, Jackson was named the STX/AHCA Division III National Coach of the Year, USCHO Division III National Coach of the Year, and ECAC West Conference Coach of the Year.
Jackson saw Elmira great Ashley Ryan ’15 receive the Laura Hurd Award, presented to the AHCA Division III National Player of the Year, Elmira’s third National Player of the Year in program history. He also coached three AHCA First Team All-Americans, which is also the third time Elmira has had three first teamers in the same year, and saw Ryan earn ECAC West Conference Player of the Year, Elmira’s fifth conference player of the year in college history.
Additionally, Jackson had three players named NCAA Division III Statistical Champions in several statistical categories. Elmira boasted the nation’s leader in goals per game, power-play goals, game-winning goals, short-handed goals, points per game, and assists per game. Jackson also helped Ashley Ryan ’15 tie the NCAA Division III single-game (6) and career record (42) for assists as well as Cassidy Delainey ’15 set a new NCAA Division III record for single-season power-play goals (17), a mark that led all players, men and women, across all divisions of NCAA ice hockey.
The 2015-16 season was once again a fruitful one for EC, as the Soaring Eagles rebounded from a season-opening loss to No. 6 Adrian to post a 21-3-1 regular season record. The only other losses on Elmira's docket were to No. 1-ranked and eventual National Champion Plattsburgh State. EC went on to sweep the remaining series following the losses to the Cardinals, but then suffered an untimely loss in the first round of the ECAC West Tournment to No. 9 Utica.
Bowing out of the ECAC West Tournament in the first round didn't phase Elmira much, as the Purple and Gold returned the NCAA playoffs and avenged the loss to Adrian with a 3-1 victory in the first round. However, the Soaring Eagles saw a 2-1 lead in the second period slip away in the semifinals against No. 3 UW-River Falls, which advanced to the championship with the 4-3 overtime win. Elmira ended the season on a high note with a 4-1 win over Middlebury in the NCAA Third-Place Game,
Freshman blue liner Kristin Chivers '19 was recognized by several organizations following her seven-goal, 18-assist season. Chivers became the first EC rookie since Laura Hurd '05 to be named an ACHA First-Team All-American in their debut season. Additionally, Chivers received Second-Team All-America honors from D3hockey.com, and was an All-ECAC West First Team, ECAC West Rookie Team, and an All-East Region selection. Joining Chivers on the All-ECAC West Team was Olivia Nystrom '16 (Second Team), McKenna Farole '16 (Honorable Mention), and Maddie Evangelous '19 (Rookie Team).
Prior to his appointment as the Head Women’s Ice Hockey Coach, Jackson served as the Assistant Men's Ice Hockey Coach at Elmira College from 2007-12, guiding the Soaring Eagles to five consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, including a trip to the NCAA Frozen Four in 2008. He also led Elmira to five ECAC West regular season championships and the 2010-11 ECAC West Conference Championship. During his time with the men’s team, Jackson coached eight AHCA All-Americans, two ECAC West Players of the Year, two ECAC West Defensive Players of the Year, three ECAC West Goalies of the Year, four ECAC West Rookies of the Year, and 20 ECAC West All-Conference selections.
Jackson is no stranger to Elmira College as he returns to his alma mater where he enjoyed one of the most successful playing careers in the 40 year history of the Elmira College Men’s Ice Hockey program. While playing for the Soaring Eagles from 1999 – 2003, Jackson became a member of the prestigious 100 point club in 2003, garnered ECAC West Rookie of the Year honors in 1999, was named to the ECAC West All-Conference Second Team in 2003, and was named the ECAC West Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player in 2003. Additionally, Jackson captained the 2003 edition of the Purple and Gold, en route to being named the Elmira College Men’s Ice Hockey Booster Club Player of the Year.
In addition to competing as a standout forward with the Men’s Hockey program, Jackson was also a four-year member of the Soaring Eagles Men’s Golf team.
Following a distinguished playing career for the Soaring Eagles, Jackson went on to play professionally. During his professional career, he saw action with the Elmira Jackals of the UHL, and later with the Fayetteville Fireantz and Richmond Renegades of the SPHL. In 2005, Jackson was named the Southern Professional Hockey League Player of the Month in November, and in 2006, was named a Southern Professional Hockey League All-Star following the 2005-2006 season.
During both his collegiate and professional career, Jackson has also served as a head instructor and program coordinator for World Class Hockey Development Canada. During his time with World Class Hockey Development Canada, Jackson also served as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator. Additionally, he was responsible for program and staff management, and has been instrumental in the planning of camps and development of junior instructors. Jackson is also a USA Hockey Level 4 Instructor.
Jackson graduated from Elmira College in 2003 with a S.B. in Business Administration with a specialization in Marketing.
GOLF
Jackson has been a staple in the success of the Elmira College men’s golf team over the last several years, leading EC to two second place finishes at the Empire 8 Championships (2009, 2012); both finishes are the highest finishes at the conference championships in Elmira College history. Jackson also owns the lowest team round score in Elmira College history (296), as well as the most team wins (4) and lowest team scoring average (315.35). He has led Elmira to 19 tournament championships and has helped the Soaring Eagles qualify for the ECAC Division III Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships six of the last seven years.
Jackson’s efforts on an individual level are just as impressive as he boasts nine Empire 8 All-Conference selections. Of those nine selections (eight individuals), Jackson was solely responsible for the recruitment of six of them. In 2009, he coached former EC great Brandon Christo ’09 to a college record eight tournament wins, 10 total for his career, as well as a plethora of awards including Division III PING All-American status, ECAC Mid-Atlantic Player of the Year, and Empire 8 Conference Golfer of the Year. For his efforts in 2009, Jackson was named the Empire 8 Conference Coach of the Year. Jackson also coached Evan Clarke ’15 to a pair of Empire 8 All-Conference Second Team honors. Clarke’s six career wins and career average score both rank second only to Christo. Clarke also owns three of the top-five lowest single-season average scores. In 2015-16, Jarryd ten Vaanholt '16 posted the sixth-best scoring average vs. par at 77.89, and graduated with the third-best career average vs. par, behing only Christo and Clarke at 80.31.
Additionally, Jackson has been responsible for planning and executing the Elmira College fall and spring invitational tournaments, Empire 8 Championships, and served as the Empire 8 Conference Golf Chairman from 2008-2010. He is also responsible for the coordination, planning, construction and maintenance of Elmira’s indoor practice facility.
Jackson was also a four-year member of the Elmira College Men’s Golf team during his undergraduate studies.
