NECHL Preview: Rochester Institute of Technology

2022 NECHL SEASON PREVIEW: ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

The Rochester Institute of Technology ACHA men's hockey team is coached by Brendon Bielby, who said last season was "bittersweet" given the strong start until injuries plagued the team. Now in his fourth year as head coach of the Tigers, Bielby said the biggest task has been changing the team's culture.

QUICK HITS

Coaching Staff:

Head Coach: Brendon Bielby (11th year coaching, 4th with RIT)

Assistant Coaches: R.J. Miller & Ethan Bielby

Captains:

C: Christian Louria & Alec Vent

A's: Nick Gravel, Zach Mecca & Schuyler Dillon

2022 Record:

Overall: 13-9-3

NECHL: 6-0-5-2 (4th)

New Players:

Matt Morrison
Dryden Hawn
Connor Sedia
Tommy Peterson
Roan Narasimhan
Michael Scardino
Oliver Harvieux
Chris Leigh
Jon Swartzenberg
Charles Rastauskas
Ethan Long
Adam Low

Key returners

Christian Louria
Alec Vent
Schuyler Dillon

COACH'S CORNER

What were your immediate reaction/thoughts to how your team did in the 2021-22 season; what was the general takeaway moving into the offseason?

Bielby: "Thoughts on last season are bittersweet. We had a strong first half until we were ravaged with injuries. Really proud of the effort from the boys in the second half, but the injuries were too much to overcome. I'm excited to see what we can do when healthy."

What was your biggest task going into the offseason? What was the No. 1 goal heading into the 2022-23 season?

Bielby: "Our biggest task was to change the culture of the team. The program has spent the last few seasons much stronger than previous years, but we haven't made that next jump. The talent has improved and it was time for the culture of the team to catch up with our performance."

What's the team goal this year? Anything specific (outside of the obvious answers such as winning the league, etc.)?

Bielby: "Our team goal is to make Nationals. Everyone in the league beat us last year at some point, outside of TCNJ obviously. We love playing our league games, they're the easiest to show up for and we feel like needing to go through these teams to get to Nationals will only make us more ready should we qualify."

Do you have any personal goals or does the coaching staff have any goals for the program this year?

Bielby: "Personal goals for the coaching staff are what I mentioned above in regards to culture. Nearly every player on the roster now has only had me and my staff for a coach at their time at RIT. Everyone knows the high expectations we have for them, and it's just a matter of if they want to work for it. Are they willing to work to earn it every day?"

Now that you're settled in as it's your second year as head coach, what's the mentality for you personally this season as you continue to build and grow the program?

Bielby: "I've learned what an intelligent group of players we have here. Talent is one thing that you can't teach, but the willingness to learn, and the ability to soak up information is vastly underrated at this level, and is another thing you can't teach. Having a group so willing to put in the work to learn whatever it is, concepts, drills, systems, roles, makes our life that much easier. If you aren't learning and progressing week to week in this league, you'll fall behind very quickly."

FIRST SIGHTS OF ACTION

To kick off the season, RIT takes on Temple University on Sept. 16. The Tigers travel to former league rival Niagara University on Sept. 23 before a weekend series against William Patterson on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 at Scottsville Ice Arena.