Owls growing wise to NCAA D-III game – College Hockey

First-year forward Chase Carney has excelled for Keene State in the first half and now readies for the tough beginning to the second half of the season on the road against Plattsburgh (Photo by Ben Merrick/Keene State Athletics)

For Keene State head coach Bobby Rodrigue, the 2024-25 season is an opportunity to see his new NCAA level team play an independent schedule and get acclimated to the D-III game before they become part of the new Little East hockey conference next season. After a slow start to the campaign, the Owls entered the break having won their last three games including an overtime win against St. Michael’s and a 4-0 shutout win over Fitchburg State. Sitting at 5-5-1, Keene State readies for a second half where they look to show they can play and win against the established teams across the current conferences.

“We have taken steps so far this season,” said Rodrigue. “We are not a good hockey team yet, but there certainly have been glimmers in the growth of this team that has us excited about the second half and our opening “hell week.” All first semester we have been benchmarking our game in relation to the opening schedule in January where we travel to face Plattsburgh, Amherst and Curry and then Nichols in a 10-day stretch that will tell us a lot about who and what we are as a team.”

Coming out of the club hockey ranks where Keene State continues to showcase a very successful Division II ACHA program, Rodrigue and his alumni-based staff took on assembling a NCAA D-III program that joins a brand new Little East hockey conference next season. Building a roster that includes three transfers and seven club team members, Rodrigue has seen growth and commitment from the players, staff and institution to build a successful program.

“The biggest difference between the club level and the NCAA level is obviously the resources,” noted Rodrigue. “We think we have an attractive recruiting environment here with a good state school and engaged local community. Even our club team has continuously packed the arena for games. At a time where many doubted the availability of significant investment, the school has been very generous in getting the program off on solid footing including investing two million dollars in our locker room facilities in the rink. It was expected to be ready on December 23rd and we are excited to move in and make it our home. We have a good equipment deal with Bauer and our school is a Nike school so our players are very pleased with the equipment, custom uniforms and clothing “swag” representing Keene State at the D-III level.”

The Owls started out slowly going 2-5-1 in their first eight games. Second period struggles were notable in losses to Rivier and Massachusetts- Dartmouth (twice), and King’s in the Terry Moran Invitational tournament over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. But the team turned around in the consolation game against MCLA, recording an 8-5 win before closing out the first half schedule with wins over St. Michael’s and FSU.

“We lost in overtime in a scrimmage to MCLA to start the season and then got down a goal to them again in the Moran Tournament,” stated Rodrigue. “It was important that we responded with some momentum and stayed disciplined in our game. You can’t win college hockey games making junior hockey mistakes. Our boys did a nice job staying in the game and in our systems and we finished our best third period scoring six times in that win over MCLA. St. Mike’s was probably the fastest team we have played this year where we won in OT, and Fitchburg is always strong, so I was both pleased and a bit surprised that we took them 4-0. We are of course a young team with just three seniors in everyone’s first year together here. We think we found our lineup with the lines and pairings in our last week so it will be interesting to see the boys compete in practice after the Christmas holiday.”

Two players who have emerged as key contributors for the Owls so far this season are sophomore Marcus Chrisafideis (11G – 5A – 16 Pts – +7) and first-year Chase Carney (5G – 8A – 13 Pts – +13) who have both delighted and surprised the coaching staff with their play in the first half of the season.

“Chase was the first recruit we committed here,” stated Rodrigue. “It was important for Chase and us to be our first commit, and he has exceeded expectations to start the season. For a .500 hockey team it is amazing to see a player at a +13 but Chase plays a complete game. He has been successful with whomever we put on a line, solid at the face-off dot and is vary hard to play around the net with his size. His versatility has been a key to his early success, and we are anxious to see his growth in the second half.”

“Marcus like Chase is an ’04 and is just so feisty on the ice despite his stature,” said Rodrigue. “He really gets disappointed when he doesn’t get a Grade A chance on a shift and is not afraid of contact as he knows the big boys are coming after him and our bench goes wild when he blows-up one of those opponents looking to take him out of the play. He is a super competitive player and his game against MCLA shows what he can do offensively for this team.”

The Owls returned to campus on December 28 looking to work off the rust of the semester break in preparation for perhaps the toughest part of their schedule.

“I hope our guys are smart about taking care of themselves while they enjoy the holidays with their family and friends,” said Rodrigue. “One week of practice and hard skates is not going to undo three weeks of letting go a bit too much. Our first three games will tell us a lot about how far we have come as a team and hopefully set us up for a strong second half as we build a competitive D-III team that can compete with the best in the region.”

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