Tag: Arcadia University

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.