Andy Jones enters his fourth season as Bentley University’s head hockey coach with the 2026-27 season.
Jones and the Falcons won their second consecutive Atlantic Hockey championship in 2025-26, winning the title on home-ice over Sacred Heart. That completed a second straight, 5-0 run through the AHA playoffs and earned the team a trip to the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back years.
That wasn’t the only trophy the team lifted. The Falcons won the Atlantic Hockey regular season championship for the first time and earned the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. Jones was named the 2025-26 Atlantic Hockey Coach of the Year and was named a finalist for the Spencer Penrose National Coach of the Year.
Bentley finished the season with 23 wins, tying the program’s single-season record for wins set in 2024-25. They ended the year ranked No. 20 in the final USCHO national poll.
In the 2024-25 season, Jones led the Falcons to the first Atlantic Hockey championship in program history. During the run to the championship, Bentley went 5-0 in the postseason and won at Holy Cross in the finals 6-3 to earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament, another first for the program.
In Jones’ first three seasons at Bentley, the team has:
· Led Atlantic Hockey in fewest goals allowed per game each year.
· Ranked in the top-10 nationally in fewest goals allowed per game each year. The 2023-24 and 2024-25 teams were both ranked 5th nationally at seasons end.
· Posted 20 combined shutouts in three seasons.
· Ranked 7th nationally in fewest shots allowed per game in the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons.
The Falcons have also excelled academically. They led Atlantic Hockey with 28 players on the 2025-26 All-Academic team and had seven players named an AHCA All-American Scholar.
During the 2023-24 season, they posted the highest cumulative GPA of any Bentley team. All 30 players on the roster were named to the AHA All-Academic team and 11 players were AHCA All-American Scholars.
Jones was named Bentley’s head coach on June 28, 2023 after he was the Associate Head Coach at UMass Lowell for five years.
During his time on the River Hawk staff, which spanned eight seasons overall, the program received three NCAA tournament bids, went to three Hockey East championship games and won the 2017 Hockey East championship. He was involved in both player and leadership development, oversaw the defense and worked with the penalty kill unit.
All told, Jones has more than 20 years of coaching experience at various levels. 19 of his former players have gone on to compete in the NHL.
His resume also includes tenures as an assistant coach at Clarkson University (2011-15), Sioux Falls in the USHL (2006-10) and his alma mater Amherst College (2000-05).
“I am honored and excited to be named the next head coach at Bentley University,” said Jones upon his hiring. “I believe there is tremendous opportunity here for the ice hockey program to grow into a formidable force in Atlantic Hockey and NCAA Division I. The energy and vision of Director of Athletics Vaughn Williams and President E. LaBrent Chrite, coupled with the support of the diverse and dynamic Bentley community and the state-of-the-art Bentley Arena, demonstrate a clear commitment to the success of Bentley ice hockey.
“I am deeply appreciative that I have been entrusted with the task of leading the Bentley ice hockey program into its next chapter,” continued Jones. “I look forward to building a program centered on positivity, intensity and determination that will reflect the high standards of excellence and innovation that represent Bentley University.”
“Playing for Andy Jones is playing with structure and competing. Andy doesn’t care if you have 15 goals or no goals, if you compete and show up every day to work, you put yourself in a situation to be successful,” said Lucas Condotta, UMass-Lowell’s 2021-22 captain and a member of the Montreal Canadiens. “Playing for Andy through college, he helped me so much personally. If I wanted to shoot pucks, work on something, do extra video or had any questions, he was always there for me and for his players. I know he’s going to be an amazing head coach, I can’t wait to see what the future holds.”
