Juliano Pagliero begins his sixth season behind the Nittany Lion bench in 2026-27 after being added to Guy Gadowsky’s staff in June 2021. Pagliero was elevated to Associate Head Coach in July 2023. He arrived in Hockey Valley after spending 2018-2021 on Norm Bazin’s staff at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell.
AT PENN STATE
This past season, Pagliero was one of the main architects behind the highest rated recruiting class in Penn State history headlined by 2026 No. 1 overall draft pick Gavin McKenna and 2025 first round selection Jackson Smith.
McKenna, the highest rated recruit in Penn State and college hockey history, finished the year fifth in the nation with 51 points, a Penn State freshman record and the second-most in a single-season all-time. McKenna became the first-ever Nittany Lion to win the Big Ten Scoring Title with 38 points on 11 goals and 27 assists in 24 league games. McKenna was also named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year, Penn State’s first-ever, as well as landing on the All-Big Ten Second and All-Freshman teams. McKenna also became the second-straight Nittany Lion to be named a Hobey Baker Top-10 Finalist as well as the programs fourth All-American landing on the Second Team West.
Penn State advanced to its fifth NCAA Tournament, third in the past four years and second-straight, following the program’s seventh 20+-win season. The Nittany Lions finished the year 21-14-2 while tying program records with 12 wins and 41 points to finish third in the Big Ten, its best conference finish since winning the regular-season title in 2019-20.
Under the guidance of Pagliero, Penn State impressed on the penalty kill leading the Big Ten and ranking 12th nationally at 83.7 percent raising its PK by four full percentage points from the year prior.
Pagliero mentored a pair of goaltenders to a top-10 save percentage nationally with a combined .907 while freshman Josh Fleming earned Big Ten Honorable Mention honors after posting a 10-7-2 record with .924 save percentage and a 2.61 goals-against average ranking 12th in the nation and second in the Big Ten in save percentage setting a Penn State single-season record.
Fellow net-minder Kevin Reidler secured an 11-7-0 record with a .901 save percentage and put pen to paper on a two-year entry-level contract with the Ottawa Senators following the season to highlight five Nittany Lions who signed NHL contracts at the conclusion of the season. Forwards Gavin McKenna (TOR), Matt DiMarsico (COL), Aiden Fink (NSH) and Charlie Cerrato (CAR) also inked their entry-level contracts at the end of the year.
Pagliero also saw goaltender Arsenii Sergeev (2024-25) make his NHL debut on April 16 in a 3-1 victory over the LA Kings.
Freshman Jackson Smith had one of the most dominant offensive seasons for a defenseman in program history scoring a Nittany Lion defenseman record 11 goals while adding 15 assists for 26 points and being named to the All-Big Ten Second Team as well as the Big Ten All-Freshman team alongside McKenna. Smith also had seven powerplay goals, a Nittany Lion defenseman record and the second-most in a single-season all-time.
In 2024-25, Pagliero helped guide Penn State to its first-ever Frozen Four riding the wave of a second-half turnaround that saw the Nittany Lions go 13-4-4 down the stretch and earn the final at-large bid into the 2025 NCAA Tournament, Pagliero’s second in his four seasons in Hockey Valley. Penn State then defeated No. 3 overall seed Maine, 5-1, before a 3-2 overtime victory against UConn in the Allentown Regional final punched its ticket to St. Louis.
Pagliero, who has served as recruiting coordinator since 2025, heads up the penalty kill unit. He guided the PK to a perfect 40-for-40 in non-conference games marking the first time in the history of the program the Nittany Lions didn’t surrender a man-advantage goal in non-conference play (13 games). The penalty kill finished the season third in the Big Ten. The powerplay unit was also rejuvenated finishing the year third in the Big Ten and 16th nationally at 23.6 percent.
Junior goaltender Arsenii Sergeev had a career year with the help of Pagliero earning Second Team All-Big Ten honors becoming the first Nittany Lion goaltender to land first or second team laurels. Sergeev was named First Star of the Week on three separate occasions throughout the year and inked his entry-level contract with the Calgary Flames following the season. Sergeev set a Penn State single-season record with four shutouts leading the Big Ten and ranking tied for fourth in the nation while his 19 wins also paced the conference and tied for the second-most in a single-season in program history. Sergeev’s .919 save percentage and 2.54 goals-against average each ranked as the third-best in a single-season by a Nittany Lion net-minder.
During the middle portion of the season Sergeev sustained a lower-body injury that kept him sidelined for seven games and in an unprecedented move, Pagliero mentored third-string goaltender John Seifarth, an ACHA club call-up, to a 3-2-0 record in five starts with a .918 save percentage and a 2.49 goals-against average. Seifarth helped the Nittany Lions sweep Colgate at home and earn a decisive 4-1 victory over Army West Point at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.
Captain Simon Mack also had a breakthrough senior campaign, one of the best seasons for a Nittany Lion defenseman all-time, under the tutelage of Pagliero. Mack also earned Second Team All-Big Ten honors after registering 30 points on three goals and 27 assists with a plus-23 rating and 71 blocked shots. Mack’s point total tied the Penn State single-season record for blueliners while ranking third in the Big Ten and tied for eighth nationally among defensemen. His 27 assists are the most-ever by a Penn State d-man in a single season and also paced the Big Ten while ranking fourth nationally.
Pagliero also saw Aiden Fink set new single-season records for points (53) and assists (30) while tying the single-season goal mark at 23. The unanimous First Team All-Big Ten selection became Penn State’s first-ever Hobey Baker Top-10 finalist while being named the third All-American in program history. Fink finished the year as the Big Ten leader in points and assists while ranking third in goals. After leading the nation in scoring for most of the second half, Fink’s 53 points ranked fourth at year’s end while his 1.33 points per game average was good for second in the Big Ten and third in the nation and is the second-best Nittany Lion mark all-time.
In 2023-24, Pagliero saw continued improvement on special teams with the best powerplay percentage in the past three seasons as well as an improved penalty kill which saw its best percentage since the 2019-20 season. The Nittany Lions also secured their first-ever sweep over Ohio State marking just the third such instance in which Penn State has won all four games in a season against a conference opponent. On January 6, 2024, Penn State completed the largest comeback in program history using five unanswered goals to erase a 6-2 deficit midway through the game and defeat Army West Point, 7-6.Freshman Aiden Fink became the first Nittany Lion rookie in eight seasons to earn Big Ten All-Freshman team accolades and was the lone unanimous selection in the conference. Dylan Lugris became just the second Nittany Lion all-time to win a major national award as he received the 2024 Hockey Humanitarian Award as college hockey’s finest citizen. In the classroom, Penn State had a conference-best nine Big Ten Distinguished Scholars while landing 17 on the Academic All-Big Ten squad.
The Nittany Lions once again led the country in attendance capacity during the 2023-24 season at 110.7 percent while registering their three highest attended games in program history.
In his second season in Hockey Valley in 2022-23, Pagliero helped the Nittany Lions advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament following an 8-0 victory over Michigan Tech, the largest shutout in NCAA Tournament history and the third of the season for goaltender Liam Souliere, a new Penn State single-season record. Pagliero mentored Souliere to one of the best goaltending seasons in program history as his 2.43 goals-against average set a new Penn State single-season record while his 19 wins are the second-most all time and his .917 save percentage is the third highest mark.Penn State also improved drastically on the defensive side of the puck lowering its goals-against average by nearly a half goal per game from the 2021-22 campaign. The Nittany Lions finished the season with 22 victories, the second-most in a single-season all-time. Penn State climbed to as high as No. 5 during the 2022-23 season and became the first team in NCAA history to defeat separate No. 1 ranked teams in back-to-back weeks when they defeated No. 1 Michigan and No. 1 Minnesota on consecutive weekends in November. The Nittany Lions finished the year with a No. 8 final ranking in both national polls to tie their highest finish all-time.
In 2021-22, Pagliero was part of many marquee wins including wins against No. 6 North Dakota in the first-ever meeting between the two schools. The Nittany Lions defeated the Fighting Hawks, 6-4, in front of a sold-out crowd at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee during the 2021 US Hockey Hall of Fame Game. The Nittany Lions also defeated No. 7 Minnesota on the road for just the sixth time in program history.
Pagliero also helped guide Penn State back to the B1G semifinals for the seventh-straight season as the Nittany Lions became the first road team in league history to win a best-of-three quarterfinal series since the three-weekend postseason format was adopted prior to the 2017-28 season.
Pagliero helped mentor second-year goaltender Liam Souliere to a 3-3-0 record over the last three weeks of the season. Souliere posted a 2.51 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage during that stretch dropping his overall goals-against by 0.34 and raising his save percentage by 0.10.
Pagliero also saw a pair of freshmen, Ryan Kirwan and Ben Schoen, put up strong numbers each ranking inside the top-10 all-time for single-season points as a rookie at Penn State.
AT UMASS-LOWELL
During his time in Lowell, Pagliero served as recruiting coordinator while working closely with the River Hawk goaltenders and power-play unit. While at UML, Pagliero helped guide Tyler Wall to be one of the top goaltenders in the country as well as program history. Wall broke numerous River Hawk records including career victories which now stands at 58. During the 2019-20 season the senior was second in Hockey East and ninth in the nation with a .931 save percentage while his 2.10 goals-against average was good for fourth in the conference and 18th nationally. Wall, a Mike Richter Award finalist, went on to sign an entry-level contract with the New York Rangers following his senior season.
AT COLGATE
Prior to his time as a River Hawk, Pagliero was an assistant coach at Colgate from 2015-18 and served a major role in recruiting goaltender Colton Point. Point led the nation with a .944 save percentage, the ninth-best mark in NCAA history, and was second in the country with a 1.74 goals-against average during his sophomore season in 2017-18. Point was a second-team All-American as well as a top-10 Hobey Baker Award Finalist as a sophomore and signed an entry-level contract with the Dallas Stars at the end of the season. Also recruited and coached current Toronto Maple Leaf Bobby McMann.
During his final year at Colgate, Pagliero’s defense ranked 11th in the nation with a 2.20 goals-against average while the Raiders’ penalty kill was ninth best with an 84.6% efficiency.
AT HOLY CROSS
Pagliero spent the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons on the bench at Holy Cross where he played a key role in the development of 2014-15 Atlantic Hockey Goalie of the Year Matthew Ginn. Ginn finished his career with several Holy Cross goaltending records including save percentage (.917) and shutouts (8). Pagliero also had a hand in recruiting the leading scoring class for the 2014-15 season as well as the top point producing forward trio and the top two point producing defensemen in the last decade at Holy Cross.
Pagliero began his collegiate coaching career with a two-year stint at Division III Utica College (2011-13).
PLAYING CAREER
A native of Dalroy, Alberta, Pagliero was a four-year goaltender for Niagara University from 2005-2009 where he was a three-time all-conference selection and the College Hockey America (CHA) Player-of-the-Year as a senior. With Pagliero in goal, the Purple Eagles won back-to-back regular-season titles in 2005-06 and 2006-07 and reached the NCAA Tournament in 2008 after capturing the CHA Championship.
PERSONAL
Pagliero is joined in Hockey Valley by his wife Kristin, their sons Domenic and Nico and their dog Iginla.