Staff Directory
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- Phone:
- (203) 814-4550
C.J. Marottolo, the winningest coach in Sacred Heart men’s ice hockey, heads into his 18th season at the helm of the program in 2026-27. To date, Marottolo has 231 career wins while leading the Pioneers.
Marottolo led the Pios to one of their best seasons in 2025-26, as the team set a new program record with 23 wins. SHU hosted both the AHA Quarterfinals and Semifinals at the Martire Family Arena, winning the semis for the first time at its still relatively new home. Marottolo then led the team to its third AHA Championship Game appearance against defending champ Bentley.
In addition to its team success, Marottolo helped guide Felix Trudeau to one of the most decorated individual campaigns in program history. Trudeau became the second player in program history to be named a Hobey Baker Award Top-10 Finalist, in addition to being the team’s fourth All-American and second AHA Player of the Year. Trudeau led the country with 12 power play goals and was tied for second with 25 total goals.
The Pioneers tallied their fifth 20-win season in 2024-25, going 21-13-5. SHU finished with 53 conference points, three shy of the program record from the COVID-shortened 2019-20 campaign. The Pios tallied four All-AHA members and made it to the conference semifinals. First year goaltender Ajeet Gundarah was a revelation for the team, making the All-AHA Third Team and being an AHA Goalie of the Year and Rookie of the Year finalist after ranking in the top six nationally in save percentage and goals against average.
The 2019-20 season was the eighth consecutive double-digit win campaign for the Pioneers. They went 21-10-3, set a program record for wins, and won the inaugural CT Ice title at Webster Bank Arena. Marottolo’s work that winter helped produce a Hobey Baker Top 10 Finalist, while he was named Atlantic Hockey Coach of the Year for the second straight season by the New England Hockey Journal.
The 2019-20 team, which was ranked nationally for five consecutive weeks, finished the year third among Division I teams with 3.85 goals, while the Pioneers were sixth in power play and seventh in fewest penalty minutes.
Marottolo, named to the College Hockey Inc. Board of Directors in 2021, had an immediate impact on the SHU program. The 2009-10 Pioneers tied the program record for wins with a 21-13-4 overall finish in his first season as head coach. That squad also took second place in Atlantic Hockey and made it to the conference championship game.
The AHA named Marottolo the Bauer Coach of the Year for 2009-10, after SHU set a school record by having the nation’s longest unbeaten streak at 12 games before falling to RIT on Feb. 5.
Marottolo came to Sacred Heart after 13 years as an assistant and associate head coach at Yale, working under U.S. Olympic Coaches Tim Taylor and Keith Allain. During his tenure with the Bulldogs, Yale reached the NCAA tournament twice.
Marottolo has also built a reputation as an excellent recruiter. At Yale, he brought in four All-Americans, nine All-ECAC selections, and four Ivy League Rookies of the Year.
The former Trinity College assistant coach for two winters before Yale, Marottolo graduated from Northeastern University in 1989. The following two years, he served as player/head coach of the Hockey Club de Metz in France.
While overseas, he was also the head coach of Euro-Sport/Drummond Hockey School in Amenville, France. Marottolo, who speaks French fluently, has also served as an assistant coach for Team New England at the 1997 Select 16 USA Hockey Festival and coached the 1998 Select 15 team before becoming head coach of the 1999 New England Select 15 squad that finished fourth.
He and his wife, Lynn, daughter, Kailey, and son, Jack, reside in North Haven.
Pronunciation: MARE-oh-toe-lo
