The Rivier Raiders have kicked off their first NCAA season successfully by winning three of their first five games. But it isn’t about wins in building the program says head coach Matt Keating, the goal is to build a culture of character players both on and off the ice with the results mirroring the effort in practice and preparation.
“We have to earn everything every day,” said Keating. “We have to earn our place on campus at a school that has given us great support and give back to that community as well as the larger one we live in. We also need to earn our results by working hard at the coaching staff level as well as the player level. It is all new for all of us – me as a first-year head coach and them as players in the first-year of this program. We are building something together and that requires trust on both sides. Trust is earned and I think we off to a good start with the team in building that mutual trust.”
Opening night saw the Raiders face-off with Southern New Hampshire who put constant pressure on Rivier in building a 4-1 lead midway into the second period. The Raiders didn’t quit and scored three goals late in the middle stanza to tie the game at 4-4 with Jon Tavella scoring twice. The only goal of the final period came off the stick of Milan Breczko giving Rivier their maiden win in stunning fashion by a 5-4 score.
“It was great to see us stay focused in the game,” noted Keating. “LJ [Newell] made 40 saves to give us a chance and I thought we got back to the game plan which got the offense going. As a player I have been in those situations so I can help our players with staying in the moment and focusing on the next shift. We, as coaches., want them to execute on the things we work so hard on in practice. I learned from Jamie Rice at Babson that things become automatic when you execute at a high level what you work on every day. For us to lose, you are going to have to beat us. That is where I need the players to trust in the work ethic that will make us a better team as we go forward day-by-day.”
Since the opening night win, Rivier has gone 2-2-0 with an overtime win against Westfield State and a bounce back 3-1 win over Franklin Pierce after being shutout by Massachusetts-Dartmouth, 4-0. The team is learning as they play and growing in skill and style of play to the delight of their coach.
“We have a big roster,” said Keating. “That makes it hard knowing a number of players are going to be in the stands on game night, but everyone has the ability to earn ice time. One example is Ashton Jones who wasn’t even on roster at the start of the season and didn’t play in the first two games, but he started doing things in practice that earned him a spot in the line-up and he has taken off since his first game where he scored a goal and an assist and blocked a bunch of shots when we needed them most. Like many of our other players I think Ashton still has a lot of upside, and it is our job as coaches to find it and give the opportunity for it to happen on the ice.
In a season of firsts, Rivier will embark on their first team overnight road trip this weekend when they travel to face fellow-independent Morrisville in a two-game series.
“I think it is a great opportunity for the team to bond with each other on the road,” stated Keating. “It’ll be a little different than when I was at Babson, and you played two different teams on the two nights, but I think our guys will enjoy the challenge of playing in a different atmosphere and playing good hockey against a quality opponent. These games will be the next benchmark for us with increasing our comfort with each other, tweaking little things and playing to our strengths which I see in our speed and skill. We are already scoring a ton of 5-on-5 goals which is usually the hard part so we can build on that in other aspects of our game like the power play. Right now ,it is a lot of fun for all of us and we want to keep that momentum building beyond the score and outcome of the games.”
The trip to Morrisville is the first of back-to-back road trips for the raiders who will follow the Morrisville trip with a date in Castleton’s Spartan Invitational where they face the host institution on Friday after Thanksgiving. A re-match with Franklin Pierce or game with another first-year program in Arcadia University depending on Friday’s outcome.
