Constant traffic in front of goalies like Andrew LoRusso was an issue the Rivier men's hockey team wants to correct this season. (Telegraph file photo by TOM KING)

NASHUA – A couple of weeks ago Matt Keating was at Logan Airport to take a recruiting trip to Toronto wearing a Rivier University hockey hat, when one of the airport security personnel gestured to him.

“It’s about time they got a hockey program up there, ” the worker, an obvious Riv alum, said. “Been waiting for years.”

That was just another moment when Keating realized his efforts have not been in vain as the Raiders men’s hockey coach, set to begin its second season at the end of the month with a weekend road trip to face Alvernia University in Reading, Pennsylvania, a program that is in its first year, like Rivier was a year ago.

How does he see things for the program entering Year Two after a competitive 5-16-2 first year?

“Thinking about it now, there’s a lot of things,” Keating said. “One, taking everything in, first-year program, first-year team, head coaching. Just kind of assess how the year went. What worked, what we did well, what we needed to get better with, and who we want to go forward with.

“We wanted to feel good about the team we have going forward with. The coaching staff worked very hard recruiting. Put a lot of effort into it, and we got rewarded, got some good guys coming in.”

That’s why Keating described the season as “somewhat of a tryout.” The goal was to find a good group of players who wanted to be there and had a team first attitude. “That,” he said, “was probably the biggest success of the year.”

So the Raiders kept about 22 players from last year’s roster and have brought in 13 recruits. “We feel really good about who we brought in, good kids, and good players, too, and them meshing with the guys we wanted to go forward with,” he said.

Last year’s Raider team finished 5-16-2, and had one home game in the second half of the season. That was the price of being a new team. The initial coach, Eric Sorenson, had a lot of New York connections so the Raiders were constantly hitting the Mass. Pike.

“We did a lot of traveling, and that took a toll being a first-year team,” he said, adding that COVID impacts resulted in the Raiders booking a couple of games literally on the fly, one with Anna Maria at 9:30 the night before. Another period there were five games in eight days.

“That’ll make us stronger going forward,” he said, looking back. “It was just the philosophy we’ll play anybody any time.”

It’s not easy in today’s small college hockey world to formulate a schedule as a Division III independent, with future plans to join or help form a conference.

Keating said the GNAC is close to having enough teams to form one, and will need an athletic directors vote to move forward after New England College has joined. Norwich, Johnson & Wales, Albertus Magnus, Albertus Magnus and now NEC. Norwich and J&W are in the NEHC (New England Hockey Conference) amd that will take some administrative votes to make those changes. “Hopefully that works out,” Keating said. “This could be a pretty established league already if it can get done.”

Meanwhile, it’s a complete non-league schedule.

“We put ourselves in a pretty good position where teams would want to come and play us,” Keating said, noting there are 10 home games. Unlike a year ago, Keating did the scheduling – which includes four games at the Boston Bruins practice site, Warrior Arena in Boston. Two are in a tournament with Nichols in early January and two are home games with Framingham State on Dec. 3 and Post University on Feb. 14. There were scheduling conflicts with Nashua’s Conway Arena and Keating’s son’s youth hockey coach is one of the managers at Warrior. Presto, two home games.

“I wanted to play at an established rink where the guys could really have fun,” Keating said.

But Keating said the games at Conway have an extra ingredient with fantastic atmosphere. “A sports psychologist told me that there’s a sense of camaraderie, and when you win at home it’s extra special,” he said. “Of all the games we played last year, I felt our crowd was as good as anybody’s. Once word gets out other teams will want to come and play us because it’s such a great atmosphere.”

This could be interpreted as another example of how Keating has examined all facets of the Raider men’s hockey operation following the first year.

THE ROSTER, OLD AND NEW

The main goal, Keating said, was to improve the team defensively from last year.

“We put our goalies in some tough positions,” he said.

Will Augustine is one of the team’s netminders, along with L.J. Newell and Andrew LoRusso.

Keating’s goal last year was to get everyone ice time. Players had a minimum of eight games played. “Everybody played a lot,” he said. “This year, we want to develop. We feel really good about who we have coming back, and who we have coming in.”

The goal is to create culture and chemistry. The main building block offensively is 5-11 forward Milan Breczko, the Czech Republic native who led the Raiders with 17 goals last season, an All-American Honorable Mention.

“You just watch him, he’s one of those players that sticks out, he’s so fast,” Keating said. “And he just shoots the puck like – one of the hardest shots I’ve ever seen. Every time he shoots he wants to just shoot it through the net.”

It’s always a crapshoot with international players as to how they would adjust, but as Keating said, “He loves it here. Who knows what will happen in future but we’d love to have him for four years.”

Sophomore forward Jon Velveeta returns, and he saw a lot of minutes a season ago and a lot is expected from him, and the same, Keating said, for 6-1 soph forward Nick Paolucci.

The experience and leadership they showed will be key in going forward. The Raiders had three freshmen captains last year.

But defense is the key, and the Raiders are bringing in five. Seth Robinson, out of Avon (Conn.) Old Farms (prep) is a good find, a top pair there; Avery Arnold out of Philadelphia, Logan Dapprich from Pope Francis prep in Springfield, Mass. are among them. Another prize is Berlin High School alum Carter Poulin, one of the top high school players in the state last winter, the Division III Player of the Year for Berlin-Gorham.

“This kid, he can play,” Keating said. “He’s 6-3, 210, can skate, good hands, and he’s gained 15 pounds. Nobody’s going to go to Berlin High School and recruit players, right? We were lucky, went to see him, and who knows what will happen with him, but we’re lucky to get him. He’s very athletic.”

Another key defensive recruit is Alan Yu out of the USPHL’s Pueblo (Cal.) Bulls – the same junior team that spawned Breczko.

That may be an example of the fact that one thing that has also helped Rivier is word of mouth.

“We got a few guys who were close to guys on the team, who loved the experience last year,” Keating said. “So they got their friends to come.”

Word of mouth certainly helps the recruiting budget, right?

“It just goes to show how much they like Riv,” Keating said.

Keating has enjoyed building his program after taking over in the summer of 2021 following the unexpected departure of Sorenson who took a Division I assistant’s job at Holy Cross. It couldn’t have been easy, but one of the first things he wanted to establish was a code of conduct with his players, and the feedback he’s received “means a lot. You’ve got to earn respect, and that’s what the team is doing.”

Meanwhile, he feels he has solid administrative backing, with new athletic director Jonathan Harper, and former AD Joanne Merrill still a formidable presence, and the growth of the university overall.

“They want that mentality for the whole school, and for us, too,” Keating said. “This is a place where they want to help you.”

And while it’s a small school, Keating says the alumni reach is far, as witnessed by his Logan experience. And now it’s time for Year Two as practice began earlier this past week.

“Every year is different,” Keating said. “You could have the same exact team from the year before, it’s still going to be a different year. Some players will be in different roles. Going forward, that’s what we’ll have this year. …

“I feel you either grow, or you’re done.”

And Rivier men’s hockey is far from that.

NEXT WEEK: A look at the Rivier women’s program.