BC's Mutch quits amid allegations

Boston College women's hockey coach Tom Mutch abruptly resigned yesterday, the exhilaration of his remarkable success this season disappearing in the wake of allegations of inappropriate conduct with a student-athlete.

A month ago, Mutch was the toast of The Heights after taking the Eagles to the NCAA Frozen Four in his fourth season as coach.

But in a statement yesterday, athletic director Gene DeFilippo said, "An allegation of inappropriate conduct has been raised involving Boston College women's hockey coach Tom Mutch. The University takes any such matters very seriously. As a result, the Athletics Department began an investigation of the alleged incident as soon as it was brought to our attention. Coach Mutch subsequently submitted his resignation, and his resignation was accepted."

Mutch, a 39-year-old Canton native, did not return a phone message last night.

His departure leaves top assistant Katie King, a three-time Olympian from Salem, N.H., in charge, at least for the moment. Mutch, BC's third head coach, was this year's runner-up for the American Hockey Coaches Association Women's Division 1 Coach of the Year honors to Mark Johnson of two-time national champion Wisconsin.

Mutch was the Hockey East and New England coach of the year after BC posted a 24-10-2 record, its first trip to the NCAA Tournament, and a second straight Beanpot title.

Earlier in the day, DeFilippo released a statement saying, "Tom Mutch brought our women's ice hockey program to a new level and built a strong foundation for the future. We wish him the best in his future endeavors." At that time, an e-mail from the school mentioned no allegations and said Mutch was resigning "to pursue other career interests."

Mutch played for Northeastern from 1986-88 and spent several years in the Central Hockey League. In 1996, he joined the US women's national team as an assistant coach. He was Ben Smith's assistant when the United States won the first Olympic gold medal at Nagano, Japan, in 1998.

Mutch is married to the former Laurie Baker, a member of that gold-medal team who is now the assistant athletic director and women's hockey coach at Lawrence Academy in Groton. The couple have one child, Karleigh, born in September.