The Mt. Lebanon High School Hockey Association Board of Directors has selected Jeremy Church as the program’s full-time varsity head coach.

Coach Church took over on an interim basis March 8, 2021. He coached the team to a 6-2-1 record and its first appearance in the PIHL Class AAA Penguins Cup championship game since 2006.

During that 9-game span, the team went seven weeks without a regulation loss.

Mt. Lebanon defeated No. 2 Canon-McMillan and No. 3 Pine-Richland in the playoffs, marking first time since 2009 the Blue Devils beat two higher seeded teams in the postseason.

“I would like to thank the board for the opportunity to continue as head coach,” Coach Church said. “We’re eager to build upon our late-season success and take the necessary steps to ensure Mt. Lebanon High School Hockey remains a perennial contender for the Penguins Cup championship.”

Coach Church began his coaching career in 2002 at national prep school power Culver (Ind.) Military Academy, which has produced 120 NCAA Division I college players and 26 NHL draft picks. During six seasons in various head and assistant coaching roles with the Eagles, his teams went 168-54-26 overall. He was the head coach for eight eventual NCAA Division I players, including Hobey Baker Award finalist and current Washington Capitals center Nic Dowd.

Coach Church was head coach of Shady Side Academy’s varsity team during the 2009-10 season and served five years as an assistant varsity coach at Mt. Lebanon High School from 2010-15. He then spent six years as both a head and assistant coach at multiple age groups in the Mt. Lebanon Hornets youth program.

As a player, Coach Church competed for both the Hornets and Pittsburgh Amateur Penguins. He also earned two varsity letters as a freshman and sophomore playing for Mt. Lebanon High School from 1989-91. Coach Church was a league all-star, all-star game MVP, team MVP and the leading scorer for the Blue Devils in 1991.

Following his sophomore season, he was recruited to compete at Culver Military Academy, where he earned two varsity letters. He was also a two-year, two-way starter on the varsity football team and a member of the varsity track and field team.  

After graduating from Culver in 1993, Coach Church earned two varsity letters as a defenseman at NCAA Division III Hobart (NY) College before transferring to Ohio University, where he helped the Bobcats to a third consecutive ACHA Division I national championship in 1997 and a national runner-up finish in 1998.