Scott Borek, the eighth head coach in the history of the Merrimack College men's ice hockey program, begins his eighth season at the helm during the 2025-26 campaign. 

Borek, who arrived in North Andover with 33 years of collegiate coaching experience, including eight as a head coach, has brought a bold vision to campus that has promised to revamp the program's recruiting philosophy and engage all vital supporters of the Merrimack Hockey -- alumni and fans alike -- as part of "Mission Merrimack". The new brand mantra for the team is based upon a 24-hour, 365-day commitment to being as great as one can be while striving toward the team's lofty goals of winning championships while setting up its student-athletes for success in the next phase of their lives, whether it be in professional hockey ranks or in other career paths. There is no denying that, with Borek at the helm, anyone involved with Merrimack College men's ice hockey must be passionate about being better every day no matter what their role is.

In his first season guiding the Warriors, Borek helped rising sophomore Chase Gresock emerge as one of the nation's most exciting newcomers on the way to earning Hockey East All-Rookie Team accolades, in addition to a number of weekly honors along the way. Merrimack skated to victories against three of the four Beanpot schools, including two top-15 victories over Boston University and Northeastern University, the latter of which went on to win both the Beanpot and Hockey East Tournament. The Warriors also picked up wins over Hockey East Tournament finalist Boston College and the program's first-ever win on the road against Michigan.

Borek's second year at Merrimack was a clear sign that success is on the way and it could very well shake up the landscape of Hockey East. With a massive 16-man freshmen class, the Warriors won two more games than the previous campaign, including seven victories in the league. Freshman Declan Carlile made a splash in his first year, as he was named to the Hockey East All-Rookie team and was also named a finalist for the league's Rookie of the Year award when he tallied 22 points on four goals and 18 assists as a defenseman. The high point of the season came in late February when the Warriors swept #15 Providence in a home-and-home series. In the middle of the season, NHL Central Scouting came out with its mid-term rankings for the NHL Draft and Merrimack had five players on the list, including Carlile, Zach Uens and Jere Huhtamaa to go along with a pair of future players, which tied with Boston College for the most players on the list in Hockey East. The Warriors ended up with a historic day at the 2020 NHL Draft. Zach Uens (Florida) and Alex Jefferies (NY Islanders) both came off the board in the fourth round, which was the first time two Warriors were taken before the fifth round in the same draft in program history. 

More steps forward were taken for Borek and the Warriors in a COVID-19 adjusted schedule that included just 18 regular season games against all Hockey East opponents in 2020-21. The Warriors topped eventual national champion, UMass, in the second game of the season and went on to notch two other nationally ranked wins, including a second victory over a top-10 foe when they beat Boston University in late-February. Merrimack's top-3 scorers all joined the Warriors during Borek's tenure, as Filip Forsmark made a splash with a team-leading 13 points and fellow sophomore, Liam Walsh, topped the team with seven goals. Jefferies had a stellar rookie campaign with 10 points in 12 games to lead all newcomers and Carlile was an NCAA statistical champion with his 3.14 blocked shots per game to go along with 10 points, which led all Warrior rearguards. The team was heating up at the right time with points in four of its last five games to end the year. Borek also had his third consecutive Hockey East All-Rookie team selection to begin his time at Merrimack when Jefferies earned a slot among the best newcomers in the league. 

The 2021-22 campaign was a major step forward for the program under the guidance of Borek. Merrimack recovered from a 3-6-0 start to earn six ranked victories throughout the season, including a string of four consecutive ranked wins in January, which rocketed them up the national rankings and put them at #19 in the USCHO/DCU national poll. A packed Lawler Rink also witnessed the Warriors' first home playoff win since 2017 on Mar. 9 when the team knocked off Maine by a 6-2 count in the opening round of the Hockey East tournament. The team finished just outside of an NCAA tournament at-large bid, as its season concluded Mar. 12 with a quarterfinal loss at UMass Lowell. Following the season, Carlile and Uens added to the program's ever-developing list of players with NHL contracts, as both signed entry level deals with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers respectively. Steven Jandric and Max Newton also both signed professional contracts, as they inked deals with the Worcester Railers of the ECHL, then were called up and appeared in a pair of games for the AHL's Providence Bruins. Carlile was also honored as a second team Hockey East all-star and Newton was selected as an honorable mention player on the list. The list of postseason accolades continued when Jordan Seyfert was selected as the 2022 recipient of the Hockey Commissioners Association Derek Hines Unsung Hero Award. Merrimack also locked in Borek for the foreseeable future, as he signed a contract extension to remain head coach during the final week of the regular season and was named a finalist for the Hockey East Coach of the Year award. 

The 2022-23 season was a milestone year for the Warriors, as they won 23 games, 16 of them in conference, as the Warriors finished a program high second in the Hockey East standings, winning a double overtime game in the Hockey East Quarterfinals over Boston College making it to the TD Garden for the first time since 2011 before winning a second double overtime game in the Hockey East Semfinals against UMass Lowell to reach the Hockey East championship final where they were defeated by the Boston University Terriers in overtime. Despite the loss, Merrimack qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the third time in their Division-I history, but they defeated by the Quinnipac Bobcats by a score of 5-0 in the NCAA Regional Semifinal held in Bridgeport.

In 2024-25, the Warriors returned to the postseason winning 13 games, including a win over the #1 ranked Boston College Eagles at Conte Forum, as the Warriors hosted a Hockey East postseason game for the first time in the newly renovated Lawler Arena.

Prior to his arrival, Borek had spent the last 16 years as a Hockey East associate head coach, qualifying for the NCAA Tournament 13 times, while capturing five Hockey East regular season championships and one tournament championship. Over that time span, he has recruited 12 All-Americans, 16 student-athletes who played in the NHL and 18 Hockey East All-Conference honorees.

Serving as the associate head coach at Providence since 2015, Borek's responsibilities included oversight of recruiting, team defense and the penalty kill. This season, the Friars' defense was second in Hockey East and seventh nationally, while the penalty kill also was second in the league and sixth nationally. Providence advanced to the NCAA Tournament in all three seasons with Borek on the coaching staff. 

Before Providence, Borek spent 13 seasons as the associate head coach at the University of New Hampshire. Serving as the recruiting coordinator while overseeing the team's forwards and power play units, Borek helped guide the Wildcats to nine NCAA Tournament appearances, a trip to the 2003 Frozen Four NCAA Championship game, one Hockey East Tournament title, and four Hockey East Tournament Championship game appearances.

Prior to joining Dick Umile's staff at UNH, Borek was the head coach at New England College in 2001-02. He also spent five seasons as the head coach of Lake Superior State from 1996-01, following a one-year stint there as Associate Head Coach under current Notre Dame head coach Jeff Jackson. As the Lakers' head coach, he was named the CCHA Coach of the Year in 2000 and was a Spencer Penrose Award Finalist, given to the Division I National Coach of the Year. Before Lake Superior State, Borek was also the head coach at Colby College from 1993-96 and was a finalist for the Division III Coach of the Year award in 1994.

Borek's coaching career began as a student assistant at Dartmouth College, after he sustained a career-ending neck injury during his sophomore campaign. He graduated from Dartmouth in 1985 with a B.A. in English and was immediately named an assistant coach for the Big Green.

Borek and his wife, the former Jill McCune, have seven children, including Madeline Borek Harris (29), who along with her husband, Caleb Harris, live in Vermont. Charley (26) currently lives and works in New York City and Owen (22) is a rising senior at Providence College, where he plays lacrosse for the Friars. Borek's son, Gordie, tragically passed away in 2016 at the age of 22 as a sophomore at the University of New Hampshire. Jack Forrest (20) is a sophomore at Merrimack, while Emma Forrest (20) is a sophomore at Suffolk University and Jacob Forrest (20) is a sophomore at St. Louis University of Madrid.