Daily Hampshire Gazette – “Jeff Matthews has been coaching the Amherst College women’s hockey program since 2012, and now has his team in its first NCAA tournament semifinal appearance since 2010,” writes local sports reporter Hannah Bevis. The coach’s father is C.B. “Moose” Matthews, known for his own long career of coaching high school hockey in Westfield, Mass.
“Jeff started playing [hockey] at a young age, and his dad coached him through mites until he was about 11 years old,” the article continues. “The younger Matthews played for Jim Lindsay at Deerfield Academy for four years before continuing his career in college at RPI.” Matthews played in Sweden, returned to RPI as an assistant coach, and then found years of success at Northwood School in Lake Placid, N.Y., before he and his wife and children moved to Amherst.
“Matthews has a 164-70-31 mark with the Mammoths, and has led his team to two of the last three NESCAC titles,” Bevis notes. “The Mammoths [will] tangle with Hamilton on Friday night in the Division 3 Frozen Four at Orr Rink (7 p.m.). But regardless of the outcome, Matthews & Co. know the bonds they’ve forged will last long after this historic season.”