To suggest that Chris Baudo has accomplished a great deal in his six seasons as head coach of the Golden Flyers' women's hockey team would qualify as a colossal understatement.
Under Baudo's direction, the Golden Flyers burst onto the scene in 2018. Six years in, the program has 116 wins, three-straight UCHC titles and three NCAA Tournament berths. Nazareth is consistently ranked nationally in the division III women's hockey polls.
The Golden Flyers have been particularly dominant in each of the last three seasons with a program record 27 wins (including a perfect 20-0 conference record) in 2021-22, followed by 22 wins in both 2022-23 and 2023-24. Over that span of three seasons, Nazareth is a remarkable 57-1-2 in UCHC regular season play. Baudo was most recently named UCHC Coach of the Year in 2023-24. He has guided two UCHC Goalies of the Year in McKinley Hoff (2023-24) and Adrianna Brehm (2018-19), and one Defensive Player of the Year in Julia Holmes (2022-23).
In each of the last two seasons, Nazareth has hosted the Empire 8 Championship game, defeating Utica 3-2 in 2023-24 and 2-1 in overtime in 2022-23. During the 2022-23 season, Baudo help direct Nazareth's first-ever AHCA and USCHO.com All-American in defensive standout Julia Holmes. Holmes repeated as an all-american in her senior campaign.
In winning their first conference championship, Nazareth gained an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament and Baudo was named as the league's Coach of the Year for the second time. The Golden Flyers were awarded a home game against Elmira in the NCAAs, where they suffered a hard-fought 2-1 defeat before a spirited crowd at the Bill Gray's Regional Iceplex.
The Golden Flyers have been successful since their inaugural puck drop in 2018. With a roster comprised of 23 freshmen and three sophomores, Nazareth finished 19-5-2 overall in 2018-19. They followed that up with a records of 18-5-3 in 2019-20, 8-2-0 in the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 season and 27-2-0 last season. The total is 72-14-5 (.819) for one of the top winning percentages in the country. Over four seasons, 17 players have earned UCHC all-star honors.
Baudo came to Nazareth after previously serving as the Director and Head Coach at Selects Academy, housed at Bishop Kearney High School in Rochester.
A native of Buffalo, N.Y., Baudo was responsible for building the Selects Academy hockey program from scratch by recruiting elite-level female hockey players from across the United States. For the first year, he recruited 20 players that competed in the 16U level and he guided the team to a record of 49-10-7 while competing in tournaments across the country. A 19U team was added later.
Baudo used a similar recruiting approach in assembling Nazareth's first team for 2018-19. The current roster includes players from 13 different states and two from Canada.
"We feel fortunate that we were able to attract a coach with Chris' credentials," Nazareth Athletic Director Pete Bothner said at the time of Baudo's appointment as coach. "He comes equipped with strong organizational skills and a proven record of program building."
Before joining Selects Academy, Baudo spent 15 years at The Gunnery prep school in Washington, Conn. He was director of the ice hockey program and boys head coach from 2003 through 2016 and compiled an overall record of 239-120-26 with eight 20-win seasons.
Other roles at The Gunnery included Assistant Head of School, Dean of Students and Senior Associate Director of Admissions. Baudo also spent one year coaching boys hockey and baseball at The Culvers Academies in Indiana.
Baudo is a 2000 graduate of Hamilton College, where he played four seasons of hockey and was twice named team MVP. He has a Master of Arts degree from George Washington University. His coaching experience includes serving on the player development committee for the New York State Amateur Ice Hockey Association and coaching at the USA Hockey National Festival in 2002, 2006 and 2008.
Baudo resides in Pittsford, N.Y. with his wife Shannon and twins, Connie and Henry.
