Following the conclusion of the 2024-2025 Vanderbilt Hockey Season, head coach Max Mona, P’21-22, HC’22-25, who led the Vanderbilt hockey program from 2022-2025, has stepped down from his head coaching role and will move into an advisor/coordinator position. We are extremely grateful for Max’s time as head coach and he leaves behind him a much stronger program.

2024-25 Assistant Coach Andrew Shearson, P’22-24, AC’24-25, will be stepping into the head coaching role for the 2025-2026 campaign. Coach Shearson began his college career goaltending at NCAA D3 Middlebury before transferring to Vanderbilt in 2021, where he studied communications and backstopped the program to their first National tournament in 2023. In his time as a player, Shearson was named team MVP in both 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 seasons, and was named a College Hockey South All-Star, along with 2nd-Team All-Conference in the 2023-2024 season. After studying under Mona for the 24-25 season, Coach Shearson feels both “confident and excited” to be stepping into the head coaching position.

Supporting Coach Shearson as assistant coaches are Reese Popkin, P’23-25, Harrison Parent, P’22-25, and Thomas Lokken. Popkin and Parent both join the coaching staff following two year playing stints as a graduate students at Vanderbilt. Thomas Lokken spent the previous four years playing at the University of South Carolina, where he was a part of the Cock hockey squad which captured an AAU D1 national championship during the 2023-24 season.

Our Student President for the 2025-2026 season is Will Pho, ’27, a defenseman from Toronto, Ontario, studying Mechanical Engineering. His supporting cast consists of three Vice Presidents: F Emmett Kappesser (MHS and Economics, ’26), D Matt DeAnzeris (Mechanical Engineering, ’27), and F Jack Torinus (Biology, ’28), along with Secretary F Michael Cowling (Economics, ’28), and Treasurer F Cole Miller (Economics, ’27).