University of Wisconsin-River Falls

Coming off three consecutive NCAA Division III national championships on home ice from 2024-26, Joe Cranston remains the first and only head coach in UW-River Falls Falcons women's hockey history, completing his 27th season at the helm in 2025-26.

The Falcons captured the first national championship in program history in 2023-24 during the program’s 25th anniversary season, finishing with a 31-0 record — the most wins in a single season in NCAA Division III women’s hockey history. UWRF’s undefeated campaign marked just the second perfect season in Division III women’s hockey history. The Falcons followed with back-to-back national championships in 2025 and 2026, compiling an 87-4-2 record over the three-year span, including an NCAA Division III-record 40-game unbeaten streak from March 2023 through December 2024.

Cranston earned his 500th career victory in January 2025 and ranks first in WIAC history in both total wins and winning percentage. Through the 2025-26 season, his 548 career victories rank third all-time in NCAA Division III women’s hockey history.

Under Cranston’s leadership, UWRF has won either the NCHA/WIAC regular season championship, conference tournament championship, or both in each of the past 17 seasons. The Falcons have reached the NCAA Tournament 15 times in the last 16 years and advanced to the NCAA Frozen Four eight times (2003, 2009, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2024, 2025, 2026). That run includes three consecutive national championships from 2024-26, third-place finishes in 2014 and 2015, and a national runner-up finish in 2016.

A two-time AHCA National Coach of the Year recipient (2024, 2026) and four-time finalist for the award, Cranston has also been named either the NCHA or WIAC Coach of the Year 10 times. Under his guidance, 48 Falcons have earned All-America honors, including four during the 2025-26 season. The 2025-26 campaign also marked the program’s 15th consecutive season with at least one All-American selection.

UWRF has produced five AHCA Laura Hurd Award winners — the most in NCAA Division III history — including three consecutive national players of the year: Megan Goodreau (2026), Bailey Olson (2025), and Maddie McCollins (2024). Previous recipients also include Callie Hoff (2022) and Dani Sibley (2017). Cranston has also coached three consecutive NCAA All-Tournament Team Most Outstanding Players: MaKenna Aure (2026), Bailey Olson (2025), and Maddie McCollins (2024). In addition, he has coached 13 NCAA All-Tournament Team selections, five WIAC Scholar-Athletes — Emily Stark, Amy Auran, Haley Nielsen, Sophia Leong, and Sami Miller — and one NCHA Scholar-Athlete, Alyssa Jackson.

A 1990 graduate of UWRF, Cranston began his coaching career in his hometown of Fergus Falls, Minn., before spending more than a decade coaching high school boys hockey in Somerset, Wis. He launched the UWRF women’s hockey varsity program in 1999.

Cranston resides in River Falls with his wife, Sue. They have three grown children: Roy, Walter, and Irene.