Over the last four years, Brett Riley and Long Island University haven’t just gone through the motions of building a Division I college hockey program. They’ve put the pedal to the medal and have quickly made a name for themselves.
EAST MEADOW, NY— Over the last four years, Brett Riley and Long Island University haven’t just gone through the motions of building a Division I college hockey program.
They’ve put the pedal to the medal and have quickly made a name for themselves.
Riley, LIU’s head coach from the get-go, played his college hockey at Hobart College and graduated after four seasons in 2014. It wasn’t too long after that he went into coaching, which seems to be in his DNA, as his father and grandfather did the same.
Riley has coached at the Albany Academy and Wilkes University and spent the season before he was hired by Long Island as an assistant at Colgate.
Building a program comes with a ton of growing pains and a ton of losses, but it’s about fighting through the adversity that allows every program to eventually soar.
LIU isn’t soaring just yet, but they’re learning how to fly.
The Sharks are currently on a three-game winning streak and hold a 4-5-0 record on the young season.
Let’s go streaking.
On Saturday, October 28, LIU shut out St. Anselm with a 4-0 win at Northwell Ice Center during LIU’s Pink the Rink game, supporting breast cancer awareness.
“We didn’t play great, but we’ll take wins,” Riley said. “They are hard to come by.”
Fourth-year goaltender and Long Island native (Smithtown, NY) Brandon Perrone has been a key part of this young Sharks program.
Perrone has had loved ones affected by breast cancer, and with it being Cancer Awareness Night, Perrone had a tremendous game. “He’s been impacted by it obviously with his mom and breast cancer and other family members,” Riley said. “It’s special for him to go in there, have his mom drop the puck, and then get his first shutout. He’s been playing really well.”
Coach Riley is glad to have a goaltender like Perrone have success on this LIU team. “We’re really happy to see him be rewarded,” Riley said. “Another guy who has been with us four years, to the beginning of this program.”
As an independent team, Long Island has an odd schedule. They were away against Stonehill the following Monday and came away from that game with a 4-2 win.
“At Stonehill, that was a really gritty win. I think we played better than the score reflected,” Riley said. “We didn’t give them much. They went down and scored two flukey goals. They were created off of our mistakes, and we held them to one shot in the third.”
Even with those two mistakes, the Sharks were locked in, only giving up ten shots in the entire game, with just one shot in the third period. “We were dialed, disciplined and detailed. We only took one penalty that game and didn’t give them much.”
Long Island’s schedule has been one of the toughest in the entire country this season.
Without being in a conference, the Sharks are trying to bring attention to the program. “We've played one of college hockey's toughest schedules,” Riley said. “We’re just taking it in strides, trying to get better.”
There have been some close games, including some late losses to college hockey’s best teams.
LIU’s faced the likes of Boston College, Penn State, and Colorado College this year, falling in all those games but coming extremely close in defeat.
“We want to win every game, and it would be naive to say that's not the case, but we're just trying to get better to figure out what we have and be better in the second half,” Riley said.
With their schedule being so unconventional, the Sharks are finding different ways to stay motivated.
“We do a good job as a program starting each week new, but it's hard to really start the week new when we don't know,” Riley said.” It's kind of a Tuesday, then we're off Wednesday. It's been a little touch and go, but not an excuse.”
Just because Long Island is independent and new doesn’t mean teams like them can’t make an impact.
LIU beat Stonehill 7-3 earlier in the season, and now Stonehill came up just short against #16 ranked Arizona State. “Friday night, Stonehill took Arizona State to overtime showing the parody of college hockey,” Riley said.
This past weekend Long Island only had one game, a Sunday night matchup with the Sacred Heart Pioneers. Going into the game, Riley stated how the Sharks needed to prepare.
“I think the game just has to matter more to us. For them, it’s an out-of-conference game on a Sunday night,” Riley said. “It's got to be a big matchup, and we need those words to match that intensity. We have to be physical. We need to be disciplined. We need to eliminate mistakes.”
With LIU still looking to join a conference, every game is about making a statement.
When Coach Riley was asked if every game meant more for the team to prove themselves, he had this to say: “100%. This is a league people associate us with (Atlantic Hockey), and I think that every game for us, in a sense, we say is a league game.”
The Sharks delivered on that statement and were able to fight out a 2-1 win over the Pioneers.
Isaiah Fox scored the game-winner in the final few minutes of the third period. Getting a victory over an Atlantic Hockey opponent only improves the image of the Long Island University Hockey program.
“We're trying to make a statement to college hockey,” Riley said. “To gain that attention to notoriety in wins like this, or great showings like this help move the needle on the college hockey landscape.”
As Coach Riley mentioned, every game is crucial for the Sharks as they continue to build this program. “We’re not about moral victories, but a 4-2 loss at Boston College, who’s now ranked number one, shows that we're trending in the right direction,” Riley said “We need to paint more of that picture versus the weaker independent new kids on the block. Each game, we're fighting for credibility.”
Long Island will spend the next two weekends on the road, first with back-to-back games against Omaha on Nov. 10 and 11. Next, it’s a back-to-back against Lindenwood on Nov. 17 and 18.
The Sharks return home on Black Friday, November 24, when they host American International.
NCAA Division I Ice Hockey is something new on Long Island. This is only the beginning for the Sharks program, and the local community should be very excited about what’s to come.
The Hockey News will continue to provide insight and analysis on the LIU Sharks men’s hockey program throughout this season.