The only Division I ice hockey program on Long Island, led by a coach with a long family background in the sport, just wrapped up its best season in history.
The Long Island University Men’s Ice Hockey Team played its last regular season game on Saturday, March 1, defeating Alaska Fairbanks 2-0. The win marked the Sharks’ 20th of the season, giving the program a 20-12-2 record. The team has increased its win total each season since the program began in 2020.
Brett Riley helped start LIU’s hockey program in the 2020-21 season. The Sharks went 3-10 during their inaugural season, and Riley said it was difficult for everything to come together.
“We were tasked with putting together a team within four months during the COVID-19 pandemic and trying to get it off the ground,” he said. “We’ve definitely had our fair share of challenges like everyone, and it was a challenging time to get a team together.”
But the Sharks weren’t the first program that Riley helped construct.
He also helped Wilkes University start its Division III program, which played its first season in 2018-19. The team went 16-8-2 in its inaugural season.
Riley joined Colgate University’s coaching staff for the 2019-20 season before heading to Long Island for his next startup program.
LIU mightily improved from its three-win season in 2021-22. The team won 10 games in its first full year. The Sharks jumped to 13 wins the following year and then 16 in 2023-24. This season marked the first winning year in program history.
The Sharks were ranked 26th out of the 63 Division I programs according to Pairwise rankings from March 4. The school was the highest-ranked independent school and the only independent program with more than 12 wins.
LIU defeated Notre Dame Univeristy when the school was ranked 17 in the country. The Sharks also lost in overtime to Providence College, which finished the year as the sixth-ranked program.
How did the team find its success?
The Sharks had the 12th-best penalty-kill percentage and 19th-best power-play percentage in the country. LIU was also one of nine programs with a scoring margin of one goal or higher.
Riley said the team considers itself a “family” and has taken measures off the ice to improve its play and confidence.
The architect of the Sharks comes from a family of hockey coaches.
Jack Riley was the head coach of the Army men’s hockey team for 35 years. He then passed that position to Rob Riley (Brett’s father), who led the team for 18 years.
Brett’s uncle, Brian Riley, just finished his 20th and final year as head coach of the program. Jack Riley (Brett’s brother) is also an assistant coach for the Black Knights.
“I just wanted to carve my own path and build my own name,” Brett Riley said. “I have so much respect and appreciation for all of the Rileys that have helped me and given advice, but, I’ve taken pride in starting programs from scratch.”
LIU is one of five Division I programs not associated with a conference, meaning that the team has no conference tournament to play in. Riley said the team narrowly missed the NCAA tournament this year but that that wasn’t the goal of the season.
“We’ve been focused on getting 1% better in all areas,” he said.
The program is graduating six players and Riley said that the NCAA Tournament could be a potential goal for next year.
