Lake Forest College

The 2024-25 season was Sean O'Malley's fourth as head coach of the Foresters and 11th with the program.

O’Malley has helped lead Lake Forest to a 121-127-23 overall record and an 87-92-15 mark in NCHA play over the last 11 seasons. At 18-6-3, the 2019-20 Foresters posted the program's best overall record since 1991 and their 14-4-2 mark in the NCHA is a school record. That team also qualified for the NCAA Division III Tournament for the first time in nearly three decades.

Forester players have been named all-conference 10 times and earned a pair of NCHA Player of the Year honors and three First Team West All-American selections since O’Malley joined the staff. In addition, Lake Forest has had a player named to the NCHA All-Freshman Team five times in that span.

Lake Forest has broken or tied 15 program records in the last nine years, including a 15-game unbeaten streak that was the longest in the nation during the 2014-15 season.

The Foresters have also been extremely successful in the classroom, earning 93 NCHA All-Academic Team accolades during O'Malley;s four seasons as head coach, including a program record 28 in 2024-25.

O’Malley came to Lake Forest from the State University of New York at Potsdam, where he served for two seasons as an assistant coach, recruiting coordinator, and academic advisor. 

For seven years O’Malley was an on-ice instructor at Can/Am Hockey Schools in Lake Placid, New York, and Guelph, Ontario. He spent last summer in Cleveland as an on-ice instructor for the Ohio Hockey Project, where he coached Junior A players. O’Malley has also served as an evaluator with USA Hockey Development.

O’Malley, a 2010 graduate of the College at Brockport, was a four-year member of the Golden Eagles men’s ice hockey team. As a senior he served as an assistant captain and was the recipient of the Bob Pedersen Coach’s Award, exemplifying character and work ethic as a student-athlete. After graduating with a degree in criminal justice, O’Malley pursued a professional career with the Wheeling Nailers of the East Coast Hockey League as well as various minor league teams. 

A native of Cleveland, Ohio, O’Malley played golf and hockey at St. Ignatius High School, and is a member of the St. Ignatius Hockey Hall of Fame. He also played as a post graduate for Gilmour Academy and the Syracuse Stars of the EJHL.

O’Malley, who is also the head women’s golf coach at the College, lives in Lake Forest.