Breaking: Ben Syer will be Princeton's next head coach

Princeton is set to hire Ben Syer as its next head coach, sources tell College Hockey Insider.

Syer, 49, will replace Ron Fogarty who was fired last month.

Syer has been at Cornell since 2011, when he joined the program as an assistant coach. He was elevated to associate head coach in 2012. Prior to Cornell, he was an assistant coach at Quinnipiac from 2003-12, and he spent one season as a grad assistant at Ohio University (ACHA) in 1999-00.

Syer was a finalist for the job alongside Quinnipiac associate head coach Joe Dumais. Other finalists included Rob Rassey (Michigan) and Dana Borges (Arizona State).

Syer oversaw Cornell’s recruiting and managed the defensive unit. In 2018, he won the Terry Flanagan Award, which honors an assistant coach’s body of work.

Cornell has qualified for six out of the last seven NCAA Tournaments it was eligible for, including the 2019-20 season. The tournament did not happen that year, but Cornell was one of the top seeds when the season was stopped due to COVID-19, with a 23-2-4 record.

Since 2016, Syer has helped Cornell compile a 151-56-27 record. Syer oversaw the program when head coach Mike Schafer had to sit out due to health problems during the 2021-22 season.

Princeton is scheduled to announce Syer’s hiring later today.