Rivier women's goalie Rachel Symmes makes a save during a recent practice as the Raiders prepare for their inaugural season that begins Oc.t 29. (Telegraph photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – Rivier University’s Chris Czarnota was standing in the lobby of Conway Arena early this past week, watching the Raiders men’s ice hockey team at its first-ever official practice, the Riv women’s team he coaches having just finished its own.

“Today is a good day,” he said. “We’re on the ice, playing hockey. This is the happiest I’ve been in a while, it’s been a long day coming.”

Czarnota and men’s ice hockey coach Matt Keating had spent the last few months watching video of players, calling schools to schedule games, working out practice details with Conway, welcoming their new players on campus.

“There’s so much to do, so much going on,” Keating said after a recent practice. “This (the rink) is a happy place. It’s like going on vacation from your job. Once I step on the ice, don’t have to think about anything. Just do it.”

But after practice, emails and messages are certainly awaiting both coaches, as their seasons will officially open with a doubleheader at Conway on Friday, Oct. 29. The women take on Castleton at 4 p.m. while the men follow at 7 against Southern New Hampshire University. The Raiders will play as independents this season before joining a conference next year.

Before the official openers, they have practice games. The first time they put on their Rivier jerseys will be next weekend. The Raider women will scrimmage Plymouth State here next Friday at 7 then at Southern Maine on Saturday (1 p.m.) while the men will be at New England College next Saturday, then Southern Maine on Monday, Oct. 25.

Before all this, the off-ice administration has been immense in getting the programs off the ground, from the initial announcement a year ago this month to the hiring of the head coaches – twice in the men’s case – and then letting them do their thing.

“Honestly, I think we have two really good coaches,” longtime Rivier athletic director Joanne Merrill said while watching the first practice last week. “They’ve done all the heavy lifting, the recruiting, the organization, the equipment, all of that. It’s exciting to see this.”

Merrill said that it’s “a different animal” having to play at an off-campus facility, as baseball does at Holman Stadium. “But this is great,” she said of Conway. The school will have shuttle buses for students to take from campus to the arena, and there will be a barbecue in the parking lot between games.

“I hope it’s another thing,” she said. “Another thing for students, and for the city, having an intercollegiate (hockey program) back since Daniel Webster is gone. I’m excited.

“When I walked in (to practice), you could feel that speed and rush of athleticism on the ice. Pretty cool.”

ORGANIZATIONAL WORK

Keating says that the approach of the season is both “exciting and relief” as a lot has been accomplished and adds there’s still a lot more to be done with the administrative work.

Was the off ice organizational work what the coaches expected?

“It was, and a little bit more,” said Czarnota, who has put together a roster with players from not only New England but as far away as California, North Carolina and Alaska. “But it was all good stuff. Honestly, it was all learning for me. I never pretended to know everything, but there were a lot of responsibilities as a head coach, and the fact it’s a brand new program in that everything we’ve done up to the first day of practice, we needed to go out and get and organize and orchestrate all that good stuff.

“Everything from practice jerseys, helmets, gloves, pants, everything to curate a brand new team we’ve done. … It’s all worth it.”

Keating helped some players move in when they arrived on campus, meeting them and their parents for the first time.

“I felt really good after those first couple of days,” he said, “seeing then that we’ve got good kids. Kids who are excited to be here, to play college hockey. They’re the first ones.

“A lot of people worked hard for them to get here to play college hockey at a real good school. They understand that. It means a lot to them. They want to be pioneers.”

Czarnota could feel the anticipation building when his players finally arrived on campus.

“That was a huge day for me,” he said. “I’d been on campus since, let’s say Jan. 1. I’d been recruiting a team, but had no one on campus to show for it. When they arrived on campus, it was ‘Yeah, here we go.’ I’ve had women in Rivier gear, but it was better seeing them in practice gear.”

Both coaches had contact with their players but, according to NCAA rules, only on a limited basis.

There was a team meeting for the women when all the players were on campus in early September, and there were captains practices that Czarnota could not attend.

Recruiting was different for Czarnota and Keating. Remember, Keating was hired early this past summer after original hire Eric Sorenson resigned in June to become an assistant at Division I Holy Cross.

Keating didn’t feel any difference whether he recruited the players or not.

“Not really,” he said. “Once you meet somebody for the first time, there’s no more uncertainty. I told them 95 percent on whether you make the team is what you do in the community, off the ice. It’s only five percent on the ice. The on-ice is going to take care of itself.

“I told the guys when I first met with them, they’re the foundation. The concrete that’s poured, that’s them. Why is the Leaning Tower of Pisa tilted? Because it wasn’t built on a good foundation, built on soft soil.”

Despite their different circumstances with their jobs, both coaches found the same thing: Players wanted to be part of history. Keating welcomed 36 players last Monday while Czarnota had 22.

“The beauty of our women’s hockey team, same with the men’s program, is it’s brand new,” Czarnota said. “It just opened the door for 22 more players that we have on the team to play NCAA hockey. The response was great from recruits and families that we’re adding another NCAA ice hockey team to the fold.”

Thanks to COVID, recruiting was different. Czarnota had to watch video rather than see recruits play in person. It wasn’t perfect, he said, “but you could watch multiple games on video than watching one game in person for an hour.”

Keating will rely a lot on the scrimmages and an intrasquad game to sort out his players. He says he won’t cut players for anything on ice, but only if he doesn’t feel they are not contributing to the off-ice culture he wants.

Sorenson left him a list breaking down the roster of who might help right away, but he prefers the eye test.

“I told the players that I never even looked at that list,” he said. “I liked the way most of the players have acted off the ice; now I get to see them on the ice.”

THE PLAYERS

Kadyn Fennell, who is from Evansville, Ind., used to live in Burlington, Mass. and wanted to come back to a hockey area and play the game.

“I’ve been playing since I was 2, so it’s always been in my life,” the defenseman said. “Just taking a chance on a new D-3 program, I wanted to be part of something special, come here and make a name for ourselves.

“The first game’s coming up pretty soon, so I think we’ll have a good turnout.”

Colby Audette, a junior forward, transferred in along with five others from Becker College, which closed its doors last year.

“I didn’t here anything about Rivier, and went into the transfer portal,” Audette said. “Then one of my buddies was talking to the coach here, we talked to him, came here for a visit, the campus is really beautiful, the people are really great. It’s a new program, it’d be nice to be a part of history.”

Players have come from all over the country.

Riv goalie Maddy Morgan, originally from Riverside, Calif., transferred from Becker. She went to prep school in New York, played two years at Becker, and now here.

“Once Becker closed, I found Rivier,” the criminal justice major said, noting that the Becker men who are on the Raiders like Audette told her about Riv.

Peterborough’s Kayla Gauthier, a Raider sophomore, is on the Riv women’s lacrosse team but played hockey at ConVal and wanted to get back into it.

“I was really excited to hear we’re getting a team,” the right winger said, noting she got an email from Czarnota. “We didn’t have one last year, I was playing lacrosse, but I’m really looking forward to this.”

Gauthier says that once school started, the players have all gotten a chance to know each other and form a strong bond off the ice, “and that’s going to help us on the ice.”

Gabby Desouza is a freshman nursing major from Shrewsbury, Mass., and one of her coaches told her about Riv. She had already heard of the school since she wanted to study nursing, one of Riv’s specialties.

“I know I wasn’t ready to stop playing hockey yet,” she said. “I was really excited to be on a team still, in college.”

Again, enthusiasm is high. For logistical purposes, the Riv women are using the old Nashua North locker room that is near the home bench. The men, however, will use a trailer that will be parked behind the rink.

Maybe things won’t be as enthusiastic as the season gets into its rough patches, Keating said.

“How’s it going to be when we have morning practices in December and it’s 5 degrees outside,” Keating said. “That’s when the cream rises, right? That’s when you’ll find out who wants to be here. They show they have so far.

“It’s just going to be a grind now. In a good way.”

Czarnota says that everything done now will set the standard, but the work has just begun.

“I think we’ve done all the heavy lifting in a sense getting a full team here,” he said.

“However we’ve got a lot of recruiting ahead of us as well to continue to develop our program to where we want it to be.”

And that’s what the players have bought into.

“It feels awesome,” Desouza said, “to be a part of something brand new, and set the standards for the rest of the years to come. It’s a great opportunity, and I’m really excited.”

It means something, Morgan said, to be part of the first Raider women’s hockey team ever.

“It’s going to be awesome,” she said. “I’ll be really proud to say that.”