The University of Delaware Men’s D1 ice hockey program is pleased to announce that Julian Giantonio has been named the Head Coach for the 2015-2016 ice hockey season. Giantonio grew up in the Everett Massachusetts area and played his college career for the University of Massachusetts at Boston at the NCAA D3 ECAC East level from 2001-2006. His freshmen year, Giantonio was named Rookie of the Year and also received the team’s Annual Strength and Conditioning Award. He also was apart of the National Student Exchange program, which sent him to the University of Arizona to play one season for their D1 ACHA Wildcats program. Giantonio also played a year of professional hockey for the Delaware Federals of the Federal Hockey League.

Following a solid playing career, Julian transitioned into the coaching sphere. He was an asst. coach at the local Everett High School girl’s hockey team from 2006-2009. He then became the head coach for the North Shore Raiders Super Elite U19 travel team, while also assisting local Everett High School boy’s hockey team from 2009-2012. While helping coach the local hockey programs in his area, he was also the head coach of the Tufts University ACHA Club Ice Hockey program, helping the team grow and expand from its initial inception. After Tufts, Julian accepted the position of Associate Head Coach and Head Recruiting Coordinator with Williston State College located in North Dakota. At Williston, Giantonio helped the program win a NJCAA National Championship during the 2013-2014 season.

Giantonio comes to the University of Delaware hockey program with years of coaching and playing experience, which really helped the search committee in making its final decision. Dave Lombardi the President of the newly established University of Delaware Hockey Alumni Association stated, “the association feels that Coach Giantonio is well prepared to lead the D1 team back to the ACHA tournament to compete for a national championship in 2016, while also assisting with the long term growth of the program and continuing to add to our rich history in the years to come.” With the addition of Coach Giantonio and the return of Asst. Coaches Ken Trenkowski and Matt Di Girolamo the Blue Hen coaching staff is filled with experience and is ready to take the team to the next level. With the head coaching position solidified, the team now looks forward to their first practices and home opener September 25^th versus Robert Morris Pennsylvania.