The Keene State men’s club hockey team wraps up their 2023-2024 season after winning back-to-back conference championships and making another appearance in the ACHA National Tournament.
The Owls went 16-7 this season, putting them at the number one spot in the NorthEast Collegiate Hockey Association (Patriot West) conference. Senior forward, Ryan Tobeler led the team with 31 points and came in second on the team in goals with 16 this season. Tobeler was able to average nearly a point and a half a game this season.
The Owl’s goal leader for the 2023-2024 season was senior forward Nick Feliciano with 16 goals. Additionally, Feliciano led the Owl’s club hockey team in goals the previous year with 24 goals.
The president of the Keene State’s men’s club hockey team, William Slohm, had another winning season between the pipes, putting up a 0.905 save percentage throughout the whole season. Slohm started 17 out of the 23 games and had a positive record of 11-6.
Aside from personal statistics, the Owls secured the number two spot in the ACHA final rankings. It received this by winning the NECHA (Patriot) conference championship.
“That being the first ever Keene team to go back-to-back NECHA champs is a nice confidence boost and a cool piece of history to be a part of.” said Slohm.
This conference championship win would be the Owls’ second in a row as they won the previous season. This win would assure it a spot to dance in the ACHA men’s DII National Tournament.
The hockey club was required to travel to St. Louis, Missouri to compete for the national championship.
Its first round of pool play began with a tough game against Concordia University of Wisconsin. The Owls were down throughout the game until the third period where Keene State unloaded three goals in a row. The Owls would win that exciting game in overtime 5-4.
“That win kind of showed just how much we belong because coming back from a deficit like that is super gritty and takes a lot of heart,” said Slohm.
The next game against Miami University (OH) would completely flip the script for the Owls. Keene State led the entirety of the game until Miami rattled off three goals inside several minutes to win the game 7-5.
A win and a loss left Keene State with a consolation game against Montana State, which they lost 4-3.
Another winning season from the Owls has even more upside as the Owls can look forward to next season. This next season is different because Keene State is making the men’s hockey team a varsity NCAA team. Keene State has not had a NCAA men’s hockey team since 1986, when it was discontinued.
“I think that with the NCAA season coming up, a lot of the guys want to make the jump from the club team to the varsity team. The ACHA is a little different where it’s more of a free and fun style of play that’s heavily offensive, whereas NCAA is going to have a lot more of a system-based style of hockey where it’s about being super bought-in and committed to playing your team’s specific style, whatever that may be,” said Slohm.
The team’s current coach, Bobby Rodrigue, will remain as the coach heading into this brand-new season. Rodrigue has been the men’s club hockey coach since 2006, taking them to three ACHA national tournaments in ten years and almost a fourth before the COVID-19 pandemic required a tournament cancellation.
The Keene State men’s club hockey program is back in Keene after the ACHA tournament experience and is on to its next course of taking on the NCAA. Check out details of their conference championship and tournament games on the ACHA website.
Jacob Enscoe can be contacted at
jenscoe@kscequinox.com
