Union College Athletics

Chris Ardito begins his fourth season as an assistant coach with the Union women's hockey program in 2024-25.

With Ardito on the bench, the last two seasons have seen Union take steps forward in terms of both wins and national competitiveness, posting the most overall and conference wins in a two-year stretch in the program's Division I history and earning a pair of victories over nationally ranked teams. 

In his second season, Union had one of the best seasons in program history in 2022-23, posting the most wins in a single season at the Division I level with an 11-22-1 record. The team had one of its best stretches in the month of November, winning three games in overtime as part of a four-game winning streak and five-game unbeaten streak, both the longest-ever in the program's Division I history. Union also earned its first win over a nationally ranked opponent with a 4-1 victory over #15 Princeton University and won the season series with Harvard University (1-0-1) for the first time ever.

Before coming to Union, Ardito spent three years at Vermont Academy as the head girl’s hockey coach. In his role, he guided players through the college placement process, fostered team building and leadership training, implemented a training program, and handled all aspects of hockey operations. Prior to his time in Vermont, he spent eight years as a partner and head instructor at Connecticut Crease, working with goaltenders of all ages and abilities.

Ardito also spent six years with the Yale University women’s hockey team, first as a volunteer assistant, and then as their goalie and analytics coach. While at Yale, he worked in scouting, video analysis, and implemented a shot quality-based stats system to aide in developing defensive and offensive systems.

At the professional level, Ardito served as the General Manager of the Connecticut Whale of the National Women’s Hockey League (now Premier Hockey Federation) and also worked with the St. Louis Blues in analytics within their goalie department. Using analytics on professional goaltenders, he was able to breakdown data and goaltender tendencies, while also creating a stat-based evaluation on top prospects.