Sean Walsh is returning to New England.

UConn men’s hockey coach Mike Cavanaugh announced that Walsh is joining his staff as an assistant coach. In his most recent position, Walsh spent the 2025-26 season as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Alaska-Fairbanks.

"We're excited to welcome Sean to UConn," Cavanaugh said. "Sean has built an outstanding reputation as a recruiter and has grown up around the game. He has worked with successful programs, has a tremendous work ethic, and will be a great fit for our student-athletes and our culture."

He replaces Nick Peruzzi, who departed UConn in June to accept an assistant coaching job at Wisconsin.  

Walsh’s first job in college hockey came in 2017, when he served as video coordinator and statistical analyst at Maine. He held that post until 2021, when he departed for a coaching job at the University of New England, also in Maine.

In Walsh’s single season there, the Nor'easters set a program record for wins and qualified for the NCAA Division III Frozen Four.

And immediately before his season in Alaska, Walsh became an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at a third Maine school, Bowdoin College.

The hockey community has notice his increasing responsibility at each new job.

His father, Shawn Walsh, was the longtime head coach at Maine, leading the Black Bears to a 42-1-2 record and the NCAA championship in the 1992-93 season. The elder Walsh died of kidney cancer in 2001 at age 46.

Prior to taking that first full-time college job almost 10 years ago, the younger Walsh was an assistant coach with the Omaha Lancers of the USHL. His duties there included scouting, player development and a coaching focus on defensive play and the penalty kill.

That gives him experience in the USHL, as well as NCAA Division I and Division III.

UConn finished the 2025-26 schedule with a 20-13-5 record in a season that qualifies as a success. The Huskies were selected for the NCAA Tournament and lost 2-1 to Michigan State in the regional semifinal in Worcester, Mass., in March.

The Huskies showed they belonged on the ice against the Spartans, a blue blood of college hockey that earned the top seed in the region. The No. 4 Huskies got off 42 shots, but Michigan State goaltender Trey Augustine was brilliant, turning away almost everything.

That was the second-ever NCAA Tournament appearance for the Huskies.

The schedule for the 2026-27 season has not been published.

In case you missed it, the UConn men’s soccer team filled out its roster by adding eight transfers from other programs. Among them are five international players..

Spending their first seasons on the pitch for head coach Chris Gbandi will be:

Abel Ador, defender, Xikpo, Ghana

Yotaro Furutani, midfielder, Tokyo

Rashid Nacif Joffre, forward Santa Cruz, Bolivia

Jacques Mason, midfielder, Monrovia, Liberia

Jorge Sandoval, forward, Gainesville, Ga.

Aidan Sheppela, midfielder, Brentwood, N.H.

Szymon Sokolnicki, defender, Warsaw, Poland

Brayden Strait, defender, Huntsville, Ala.

The schedule

Check out the full-season schedule for the UConn men’s soccer team here.

The regular season will open Aug. 20 when Syracuse visits Storrs, Conn.

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