Arcadia University Limiting Hockey Spectators

Until further notice, the general public will not be permitted in the Gray Rink at Hatfield Ice for Arcadia University hockey games. The university has revised its spectator policy due to Covid concerns. That policy reads in part:

Attendance at home indoor athletic events will be limited to University community members and approved guests. There will be no general admission, and Arcadia will not permit fans from visiting institutions. Arcadia students, faculty, and staff with a valid KnightCard will be admitted to the event. Also, guests of Arcadia student-athletes may be added to a spectator pass list.

The revised protocols impact the Kuch Center (including Lenox Pool and Alumni Gymnasium) and Hatfield Ice Arena and pertain to the sports of men’s and women’s basketball, men’s volleyball, men’s and women’s swimming, and men’s and women’s ice hockey.

Spectators that are allowed inside Arcadia athletic events are required to wear a mask, per the university’s indoor masking policy.

WORCESTER STATE 3, ARCADIA 2 (OT)

COLMAR, Pa. – The Arcadia University women’s ice hockey team fell to Worcester State, 3-2, in overtime on Sunday afternoon at Hatfield Ice Arena. The Lancers scored two third-period goals to send the game to the extra frame, before they scored the game-winner in overtime.

First-year forward Ariel Williamson scored the first goal in program history for the Knights. The Rome, N.Y. native found the top corner of the goal in the second period to put the Knights on the board for the first time.

WORCESTER STATE 3, ARCADIA 2 (OT)
HOW IT HAPPENED

After neither team found the back of the net in the first period, Williamson scored just over four minutes into the second period to give the Knights a 1-0 lead.
Karahkwenhawe White converted on the power play in the second period to give the Knights a 2-0 lead. Williamson tallied her second point of the day with an assist on White’s goal.
Worcester State scored its first goal with less than four minutes to go in the third period. The Lancers tied it with a minute and a half left to send the game to overtime.
The Lancers scored the game-winner 1:41 into overtime after a pass in front was tipped past Arcadia goaltender Sophia Szelag.

Arcadia Teams Fall

Aurora Men 6, Arcadia 3—James Spaagaren scored two goals, including the first in program history, but the Knights fell 6-3 Saturday afternoon in a non-conference game at Hatfield Ice. Carson Asper also scored for the Knights (0-2) to tie the game at 3-3 before Aurora took command with three goals.

Lucas Brine made 38 saves in goal while taking the loss.

Worcester State Women 5, Arcadia 0—The Arcadia women’s hockey team opened its inaugural season Saturday evening with a 5-0 loss to Worcester State at Hatfield Ice. Arcadia coach Kelsey Koelzer, a Hatboro-Horsham High and Princeton grad, made history by officially becoming the first African American woman to coach an NCAA hockey team.

Arcadia Women Ready for Debut

History is being made this weekend at Hatfield Ice as the Arcadia Knights open their inaugural season of NCAA Division III women’s hockey. The Knights will face off against Worcester State Saturday at 7:30 and Sunday at 12:15.

For Head Coach Kelsey Koelzer, the start of the regular season concludes nearly two years of preparation.

“It’s exciting,” she said, a little nerve wracking. Just seeing all of our hard work and seeing the progress that we’ve made. But overall, it’s really exciting.

“It’s nice to start to get into game play. It was 690-some days from the time that I got hired to when our players even moved on campus. And even then, once you get there, you don’t start to get working with them until the first week of October, so there’s another month. And even now, we’ve been all practice for the last three or four weeks.
So, to get to actually play some games and get into kind of crunch time is really exciting.”

Game time will be a new experience for all 19 players on Koelzer’s roster. None have ever played college before; in fact 18 of the 19 are freshmen. But all have taken on the challenge of helping build a startup program.

“It’s not for everyone,” Koelzer said, “but you kind of (sort) that out in the recruiting process as well. The players know that not every day is going to go our way. And you have a lot of adjustments to make.

“We needed players that could pick things up quickly and know that they’re going to be picking up minutes from the beginning and have to just roll with the punches and be okay with making mistakes and getting out there the very next shift.

“So, I think there is a slightly different mindset because the players don’t get to hide behind upperclassmen. They all kind of have to pick it up at the same time and help each other and really just roll with our bumps and bruises.”

Arcadia Counting Down to Opener

The Arcadia Knights are a step closer to beginning their inaugural season of NCAA Division III hockey. The Knights will play a pair of exhibition games before opening their regular season on October 29 when they host Aurora University.

Coach Vincent Pietrangelo says his players are looking forward to facing an opponent.

“It’s exciting,” he said. “We’ve had really, really good practices and really good competition. But, since the boys have been here at the start, they’ve only been practicing against themselves so a change of pace will be nice, it will be refreshing, it will be exciting,

“That’s what we all came here for, to play college hockey and compete against other schools. We have a couple exhibition games against other opponents before we start our regular season, and it will be a really good test for us. We’ll kind of see how we stack up and see maybe where some guys end up.”

Pietrangelo was asked if he felt his team was ready for the start of the regular season. “I guess we’ll never know until our first game,” he said. “I really like what we have. I’m pleasantly surprised at what we have.

“We’re a lot further along in terms of skill. There have been a few guys that have really surprised me. From the recruiting process, they’ve gotten a lot better over the summer. They’ve put the time in, they’ve put the work in, so I’m very happy to see that. That was really good to see, guys coming in and doing the right things.”

One of Pietrangelo’s concerns is injuries. “We have a few guys banged up right now We have some opportunities for some other guys to certainly make their mark in the lineup and (the exhibition games) will be a really good tool evaluating tool for myself and my assistant coach.”

Only one player on the Arcadia roster has NCAA hockey experience.

Arcadia Releases Hockey Schedules

Arcadia University has announced its inaugural men’s and women’s ice hockey schedules. The Knights are making their NCAA Division III debut this season. Both teams will play their home games at Hatfield Ice Arena in Colmar.

The men, will play the program’s first game in team history under Head Coach Vincent Pietrangelo on Friday, Oct. 29 as they host Aurora University at 7 p.m.

Arcadia’s schedule consists of seven non-conference games, including the Castleton State Tournament on Nov. 26 and 27. Matchups against Aurora University, Morrisville State College, and SUNY Canton round out the non-conference schedule.

The Knights will compete in the United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) and open conference play on Friday, Nov. 5 at Utica College. The UCHC slate features 18 games beginning in November and running through the final week of the regular season in mid-February.

Arcadia’s season culminates with the UCHC Tournament, which is scheduled to take place from Feb. 22 to March 5. The conference postseason tournament includes one quarterfinal game, two semifinal games, and two championship games.

The women will play the program’s first game under Head Coach Kelsey Koelzer in team history on Saturday, Oct. 30 at home against Worcester State University at 7:30 p.m.

Arcadia has three non-conference matchups on its schedule, traveling to SUNY Cortland for a pair of games on Dec. 10 and 11 before hosting Western New England University on New Year’s Day.

The Knights will compete in the United Collegiate Hockey Conference (UCHC) and open conference play on Friday, Nov. 5, hosting Utica College. The UCHC slate features 20 games beginning in November and running through the final week of the regular season in mid-February.

Arcadia’s season culminates with the UCHC Tournament, which is scheduled to take place from Feb. 26 to March 5. The conference postseason tournament features one game each for the quarterfinal, semifinal, and championship rounds.

The Arcadia men’s hockey schedule is HERE

The Arcadia women’s hockey schedule is HERE

Members of the United Collegiate Hockey Conference include: Wilkes, Chatham, King’s, Lebanon Valley, Manhattanville, Nazareth, Neumann, Stevenson, Utica, Alvernia, and Arcadia

Launch of Arcadia Hockey Program Marks the Start of a New Era

A new era is dawning at Arcadia University. Beginning this fall the university will put men’s and women’s NCAA Division III varsity hockey teams on the ice. The Knights will play their home games at Hatfield Ice and compete in the United Collegiate Hockey Conference, which includes teams in Pennsylvania, New York, and Maryland.

The 25-game regular season will commence on Halloween Weekend. Several teams in the hockey-only conference, including Arcadia, are members of the Middle Atlantic Conference in other sports, including Wilkes, Lebanon Valley, and Stevenson. Kings, which did not field a team last season, is also part of the MAC.

The Arcadia men’s team is coached by Vincent Pietrangelo a Michigan native who has been on the job since September of 2019. Before coming to Arcadia, he spent three years as an assistant at the SUNY at Canton. Prior to that he was an assistant at Division I Ferris State.

Pietrangelo, who played college hockey at Division III Finlandia University has always wanted to build his own program and embraces the challenges that accompany that, notably in the area of recruiting.

“A startup program isn’t for everybody,” he said. “I guess the one unique thing is, I have a special opportunity for guys to come in and help write the history of something and build something from the ground up.

“So, that’s the kind of players that I’ve been going after, guys pretty much like myself. I took this job on (because) I wanted to start a program from scratch. It’s been my dream job, and I want guys to have that same kind of passion, that are saying ‘I want to be part of something, I want to be one of the founding members and take this program from starting to something great.’”

One challenges Pietrangelo has faced is attracting players who can meet Arcadia’s academic standards.

“Obviously finding kids that meet that academic requirement is something I have to look at,” he said. “But I guess just getting the word out that we are starting a program and having a program was the biggest challenge.

“Year One was just kind of watching kids, letting the hockey world know that Arcadia is starting. I was able to grab five really good kids that were pretty connected in the world and were able to also kind of help me recruit. I did that up until the pandemic hit. That was very challenging, once the pandemic hit, to recruit. instead of being able to meet a player face to face at the rink, I’m having to watch a lot more video and do a lot more phone calls. I’m more of a personal recruiter, I like to be face to face. So, that was kind of a new challenge for me.”

Like all players coming into NCAA hockey. Pietrangelo’s players will have to make some adjustments, and make them in a hurry.

“We practice every day,” he pointed out, which is a very different transition for a lot of my guys that are coming in. They’re used to playing 60 games a year in junior. Now they’re only playing 25 but it’s a lot more taxing than a lot of people think just because every day these student-athletes have to get up and go to class and study.

“They’re in the weight room, then they come to practice. That takes a toll on their bodies. All my guys are coming in at 21 as freshmen. They’ll be playing against some seniors that are 25, 26 years old.”

Arcadia University to Add NCAA Division III Ice Hockey

GLENSIDE, Pa. — Arcadia University’s Athletics Department has announced the addition of men’s and women’s ice hockey programs, beginning in fall 2021. Arcadia becomes the fourth Division III college or university in Pennsylvania to offer ice hockey as a varsity sport, and the seventh college or university in Pennsylvania overall to do so.

“We are excited to add men’s and women’s ice hockey to our sport sponsorship offerings,” said Brian Granata, director of Athletics at Arcadia. “Even though the sport of ice hockey has seen tremendous growth within our athletic conference in recent years, the market remains unsaturated with collegiate options for players. We feel we are uniquely positioned in a hockey-rich region to develop quality programs that offer a great experience for our student-athletes. Furthermore, ice hockey affords us the opportunity to expand our recruiting efforts outside of our geographical footprint.”

The search for head coaches of each ice hockey program will begin later this summer, with the hope that the successful candidates are in place by December 1. Arcadia will hire two full-time head coaches, one each for the men’s and women’s programs, respectively.

As of September 2018, the NCAA sponsored 83 men’s ice hockey teams at the Division III level, up from 72 a decade ago, while the women’s sport has grown from 47 universities/colleges sponsoring the sport in 2009-10 to 66 in 2018. The Knights will compete against Middle Atlantic Conference schools in both sports, bringing the Conference’s sponsorship up to six teams for the women and five for the men (Alvernia University is slated to begin play in women’s ice hockey beginning in 2019-20). Arcadia is also seeking membership in a single-sport conference that will provide NCAA automatic qualification access for ice hockey.

Arcadia has entered into agreement with Colmar-based Hatfield Ice, which will serve as the home site for both programs. The facility includes three sheets of ice, concession stand, pro shop, and related amenities. Arcadia and Hatfield are co-sharing costs for 3,200-square-feet of facility renovations within Gray Rink, which includes the two locker rooms, bathrooms, showers, laundry room, coaching offices, players’ lounges, storage, and athletic training space. Construction is set to be completed by June 1, 2021.

For more information about Arcadia’s ice hockey programs, contact Granata (215-572-2955, granatab@arcadia.edu).

Following the recent addition of esports and track & field to the department, Arcadia will now sponsor 26 varsity sports (13 women, 12 men, 1 co-ed) beginning in the 2021-22 academic year. Arcadia teams have captured several conference championships in recent years, including softball, men’s basketball, and men’s volleyball in 2019. Women’s soccer joined the three conference champions in playing in the NCAA tournament this year as well. The Knights earned their highest finish in University history by placing 125th overall in the 2018-19 Learfield IMG Directors’ Cup standings. More information is available at www.arcadiaknights.com.