CANTON -- Head coach Chris Wells was named the United States College Hockey Organization (USCHO) Coach of the Year, as announced by the organization on Thursday afternoon, according to the St. Lawrence University website.

Under his guidance, St. Lawrence finished the 2023-24 season with a 28-11-0 overall record, finishing 18-4-0 in ECAC play.

The Saints locked down third place in the ECAC standings to earn an opening round bye and swept Yale in the ECAC Quarterfinals to advance to the Semifinals for the first time since the shortened 2020-21 season. The seventh-ranked Saints took on third-ranked Clarkson in game two of the semifinals, but fell 3-1 in Hamilton, N.Y.

The win over Yale in game two of the quarterfinals, marked the 19th win of the season at Appleton Arena for the Saints, breaking the program record for wins at home, previously held at 18 from 2005-06.

Despite missing out on the ECAC Championship game, the Scarlet and Brown earned their first at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, the first since 2017-18 and the tenth in program history.

St. Lawrence traveled to Madison, Wisconsin for the NCAA Regional Round, and defeated No. 14 Penn State in overtime to earn its first tournament win since 2007. The win over the Nittany Lions was also the first tournament win for Wells. The Saints advanced to the Regional Quarterfinals to take on No. 2 Wisconsin.

In 2023-24, Wells coached a Patty Kaz top-10 finalist and Hockey Coaches Association Player of the Month for January in Abby Hustler, five All-ECAC Hockey honors, multiple ECAC Players of the Week, many of whom left their names in the program record book for a successful season on the bench with the Scarlet and Brown.