Union College Athletics

Tony Maci finished his second season as head coach of the Union College women’s hockey team in 2025-26, continuing to build the program toward sustained success in ECAC Hockey.

In his second year at the helm, Union posted an 11-22-3 record and picked up a postseason victory for the second straight season. The team started the year with a five-game unbeaten streak (3-0-2), tied for the longest unbeaten stretch in the program's Division I history, and hosted the annual Ice Breaker Tournament, where the team battled #1 Wisconsin in the title game. The team earned its first victory over a top-five opponent with a thrilling 4-3 (OT) win over #4/5 Cornell in November and finished the month with a .500 record for only the second time in program history. The Garnet Chargers captured their second straight Mayor's Cup victory over Rensselaer in January and made a huge mark in the first round of the ECAC Hockey Tournament, knocking off fifth-seeded and #12 Clarkson. The team set a record for most goals scored (79) for a second straight season and had two players (Maddie Leaney and Karianne Engelbert) score at least 15 goals in the same season for the first time ever, while Stephanie Bourque and Engelbert set new program D-I single-season records for assists and points, respectively, and Leaney tied the single-season D-I goals record.

Maci and his staff made an immediate impact in his first season in Schenectady, leading the Garnet Chargers to the most wins in program history and earning the team's first-ever postseason victory. Union finished the season with a 13-23-1 record and won a program-record eight conference games as part of a very challenging ECAC Hockey slate, including the team's first-ever win over a top-10 opponent with a 3-2 win at #9 Cornell in November. Playing a total of 19 games against nationally ranked foes, eight losses came by a single goal and Union was less than 70 seconds away from taking eventual conference champion and national semifinalist #3 Cornell to a third game in their ECAC Hockey Quarterfinal series. The squad also set new program records for most goals scored and fewest goals allowed in a season in the school's Division I era, while also earning the program's first ECAC postseason honor since 2008 with first-year Karianne Engelbert's All-Rookie Team nod.

Maci came to Schenectady after spending eight years at Clarkson University, serving as the top assistant on Matt Desrosiers’ staff before earning a promotion to Associate Head Coach. During his time on the bench, the Golden Knights blossomed into a perennial title contender, winning a pair of Division I national championships in 2017 and 2018, reaching four Frozen Fours and making the NCAA Tournament seven times. As the team’s recruiting coordinator and skills coach, Maci recruited and developed two Patty Kazmaier Award winners, nine AHCA All-Americans and 38 All-ECAC Hockey honorees during his time in Potsdam.

Maci started his Division I coaching career as an assistant coach at fellow ECAC school Princeton University, where he helped guide the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament in 2015-16 with a 22-9-2 record, the most wins in program history at the time. He got his start in the college coaching ranks three years earlier as an assistant coach at Division III Adrian College, pushing the young program to a combined 59-15-6 record over three years and its first NCHA regular-season title in 2014-15.

A native of Grosse Ile, Mich., Maci graduated from St. Lawrence University in 2005 with a degree in English and was a five-year member of the Saints men’s hockey team.