Jackson, Riley Coach Final Games

A pair of longtime men's college hockey coaching careers came to an end over the weekend.

Jeff Jackson coached his final game in Notre Dame's 1-0 loss at Michigan State on Saturday in the Big Ten semifinal round. An MSU graduate, Jackson finished his storied career with an overall record of 601-343-99. He coached at Lake Superior State from 1990 to 1996, winning two NCAA championships with the Lakers, and then helmed the Irish from 2005 to 2025, guiding UND to four Frozen Fours and two NCAA title games. He was also won a pair of Spencer Penrose Awards as NCAA coach of the year.

Brian Riley concluded his career that same night as Army West Point fell, 3-1, at Holy Cross in the deciding contest of their Atlantic Hockey America best-of-three quarterfinal series. A Brown graduate, Riley finished 258-379-94 in overseeing Army from 2005 to 2025, winning the 2008 Atlantic Hockey regular-season title. His retirement ends a 75-year tenure of Riley head coaches behind the Black Knights bench.

Princeton Ends 2024 with Win at Army

The Princeton University men's hockey team closed out the calendar year with a 1-0 victory at Army on Saturday at Tate Rink in West Point, N.Y. 

Princeton's Jake Manfred scored the only goal of the game, on the power play just before the halfway point of regulation, assisted by Noah de la Durantaye and David Jacobs, before 2,648 on-lookers. Arthur Smith stopped all 24 shots he faced for the Tigers, who won their fifth consecutive game dating back to Nov. 29.

Both teams will continue in NCAA non-conference action next weekend, against Hockey East schools. The Tigers improved to 6-4-1 overall, and will host New Hampshire on Jan. 3-4 at Hobey Baker Memorial Rink. Army (5-13-0) fell to Vermont, 6-0, today, and will face visiting Merrimack on Friday.

2020-21 NCAA Hockey Season Begins

The 2020-21 men's college hockey season has begun, albeit sparingly due to the ongoing novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. 

Wisconsin won the first game of the nascent campaign by blanking host Notre Dame, 2-0, on Friday in Big Ten play before completing the two-step sweep with a 5-3 victory on Saturday in South Bend, Ind. Also on Friday, Bowling Green began its schedule with a 6-2 triumph over NCAA Division III opponent Adrian (Mich.). 

No. 12 Michigan proved inhospitable to No. 15 Arizona State, which began a three-week road trip with 8-1 and 3-0 losses to the host Wolverines on Friday and Saturday in Ann Arbor, Mich. The NCAA Division I independent Sun Devils, who are playing as part of the Big Ten this season, will skate at Michigan State this weekend.

LIU's game at Army on Saturday, its first scheduled appearance as an NCAA program, was postponed due to COVID-19 concerns. It is not known if that contest will be rescheduled.

The women's NCAA game is expected to get underway this weekend, in both Hockey East and the WCHA. The Ivy League has canceled all 2020-21 winter sports due to COVID-19, including men's and women's ice hockey. RIT has also opted out of playing this winter, as has Rensselaer, alongside Alaska Anchorage on the men's hockey side in what might be the swan song for the Seawolves program after 40 years.

Sharks Select Brett Riley as First Head Coach

Long Isl‎and University has hired Brett Riley (Hobart) as its first-ever NCAA Division I men's hockey coach. He spent the 2019-20 season as an assistant at Colgate University.

Riley is the grandson of former Army hockey head coach Jack Riley, the son of former Army head coach Rob Riley, and the nephew of current Army coach Brian Riley. A native of Needham, Mass., he played at Hobart from 2010 to 2014 as a forward before entering the coaching ranks.

Riley, 29, served as head coach at Albany Academy from 2014 to 2017 while also working as a scout for Charlottestown (QMJHL) his first two seasons. He then started the NCAA Division I men's hockey program at Wilkes University in Pennsylvania, where he stayed for two years. He led the Colonels to a 16-8-2 overall mark in 2018-19, in their first season on ice, before moving on to Colgate.

LIU, which intends to begin play in the 2020-21 campaign, has yet to announce a roster, schedule or home arena for the Sharks.

No. 1 BC Leads Friday Night NCAA Victory Parade

 

No. 1 Boston College started its 2015-16 regular season on a winning note with a 5-1 victory at Army on Friday evening. Freshman forward Miles Wood tallied his first career goal and set up two others for the Eagles, who played at West Point for the first time since 1994, while junior netminder Thatcher Demko finished with 23 saves.

Michigan State got two goals from Zach Osbourn, including the game-tying tally with just over a minute remaining in regulation, in a 3-3 tie with Maine at the Icebreaker Tournament in Portland, while North Dakota overpowered Lake Superior State, 5-2, thanks to two third-period goals from Bryn Chyzyk. Defending national champion Providence got a goal and three assists from Mark Jankowski in opening its campaign with a 7-3 win at Miami.

Air Force edged instate rival and fifth-ranked Denver by a 5-4 count in overtime as Johnny Hrabovsky connected unassisted in the extra session in Colorado Springs, while No. 10 Omaha won, 3-2, at No. 6 Minnesota State in a match-up of former WCHA rivals in Mankato as Kirk Thompson finished with 24 saves for the victorious Mavericks. Bemidji State’s contest at No. 2 Minnesota-Duluth was postponed due to a power outage.

At the Kendall Classic in Anchorage, St. Cloud blanked Alaska (Fairbanks) by a 3-0 count as Charlie Lindgren made 14 stops for the Huskies, while host Alaska Anchorage edged NCAA Division I newcomer Arizona State, 3-2, in overtime on Brad Duwe’s goal.

Army at Princeton Rescheduled for Today

Princeton’s non-conference contest against Army last night at Baker Rink was postponed following a semi-persistent snowfall from Sunday through Monday in New Jersey.

The game, which would have been Princeton’s first following its annual winter exam break, will instead be made up tonight at 5:30 p.m. The Tigers last played the Black Knights almost 16 years to the day, a 4-1 Princeton win at Army’s Tate Rink on Jan. 26, 1999. Princeton also leads the all-time series, 43-18-2.

The Tigers (2-14-1 overall, 1-11-0 ECAC) will return to league action on Friday at Yale and on Saturday at Brown. Army (5-16-2 overall, 5-13-2 Atlantic Hockey) will spend the weekend playing a pair at league opponent RIT.