Former Terrier standout and Olympic gold medalist Tara Watchorn ’12 was named the second head coach of the Boston University women’s ice hockey program on April 3, 2023.
The 2025 New England Hockey Writer’s Association Coach of the Year, Watchorn piloted BU to its sixth Hockey East title and first in ten years with a 3-2 overtime win against Northeastern. The Terriers finished with a 24-12-2, 18-7-2 HE record and made their seventh appearance in the NCAA tournament. The season marked BU’s ninth with 20 or more wins as the Terriers were the first to reach 50 points in the Hockey East standings. BU finished the regular season at second in the Hockey East standings, with at least one win against eight league foes including 3-0-0 sweeps of Holy Cross, Providence and Merrimack. BU returned to the rankings for the first time since 2021 and ended the year as the No. 11 team in the country in both the USCHO and USA Hockey polls.
Her success saw the 2024-25 Hockey East Defender of the Year in graduate student Tamara Giaquinto, who is the third in program history to receive the honor. Giaquinto and junior Sydney Healey were named both Hockey East and New England Hockey Writers Association All-Stars. Watchorn oversaw the Terrier penalty kill, which was ranked second in the nation for most of the season, which finished with a value of 0.893.
Watchorn spent time with Team Canada as an assistant coach for the Six Nations Tournament in December of 2024. She helped coach Canada to the title game in the tournament.
In her first season, Watchorn led the program to a 14-18-3, 12-14-1 HE record to finish sixth in the Hockey East standings. Her first win at the helm came against Syracuse on Oct. 21, 2023 in a 6-1 decision at Walter Brown Arena. Watchorn oversaw the development of senior Lacey Martin who was BU’s top scorer and named a Hockey East All-Star. Internationally, Watchorn served as the head coach for Team Canada at world juniors.
The first alumna of the BU women’s program to serve as a Division I head hockey coach, Watchorn played at BU from 2008-12 and went on to serve as an assistant coach for the program for four seasons before being named Stonehill’s first head coach for women’s hockey in 2021. She was named the 2022-23 NEWHA Coach of the Year in the Skyhawks’ inaugural season and was a finalist for the ACHA Division I National Coach of the Year.
Watchorn replaced her former coach, Brian Durocher, who retired after heading the program since its inception in 2004 as part of a decorated 45-year coaching career.
At Stonehill, Watchorn led the program to a 17-15-2 record while going 14-9-1 in NEWHA action for 29 points, clinching the No. 3 seed in the NEWHA playoffs. The team won its first five NEWHA games and finished first in the nation in shorthanded goals (10) and ninth in power-play goals (21). The Skyhawks reached the NEWHA semifinals after earning an opening-round sweep.
While serving on Durocher’s staff, Watchorn focused on player skill development and the team’s defense. The BU defense twice ranked in the top five nationally in goals-against average under Watchorn while the team’s penalty kill finished fourth in the country in her final season. BU posted a 65-39-18 (.607) record, including a 47-28-14 (.607) mark in Hockey East, over her four seasons and won the 2019 Beanpot Championship.
In addition to her on-ice responsibilities as the first BU alumna to return as a full-time women’s ice hockey assistant coach, Watchorn was instrumental in the Terriers’ student-athlete recruiting efforts, leading the program’s alumni relations activities and mentoring Terrier captains, helping them engage the team in community and equality initiatives.
The pinnacle of Watchorn’s playing career came in 2014 when she and three other Terriers claimed gold with Team Canada at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. She remains active with Hockey Canada, serving as head coach for the 2024 U-18 World Championship after winning gold the yea prior as an assistant coach.
Watchorn enjoyed an 11-year playing career for Team Canada as a defender, appearing in 46 games in international competition, and earned three IIHF Women’s World Championship silver medals (2011, 2015, 2016) and two gold medals at the 4 Nations Cup (2013, 2014) in addition to the Olympic gold.
A two-time Hockey East and New England All-Star, Watchorn helped vault the Terriers onto the national scene as a student-athlete. She helped lead BU to its first two Hockey East titles (2010, 2012) with her overtime goal in 2010 pushing BU to its first league crown. She played in the NCAA tournament in each of her final three seasons and was a member of the 2010-11 squad that became the first Hockey East team to play in the NCAA championship game. In 127 games on the BU blue line, Watchorn scored 21 goals and added 63 assists for 84 points.
In addition to her collegiate and international successes, Watchorn also shined as a professional for the Boston Blades of the CWHL. She played in two CWHL All-Star Games and was named CWHL Defenseman of the Year in 2015 – the same year she helped her team to its Clarkson Cup victory.
Watchorn graduated from BU’s Sargent College in 2012 with a degree in health science and recently completed a master’s degree in organizational leadership from Northeastern.
