Marist Hockey Preview: New Era Under a New Head Coach

With the Sept. 21 home opener later this afternoon, Marist hockey returns to Poughkeepsie for another season.

The Red Foxes are gearing up for a new year as they look to build upon the ups and downs of last season, where they extended their streak of playoff appearances to six, but suffered some losing skids and a first-round exit to rival Siena College.

With new faces coming to the program, there are a lot of questions surrounding whether the Foxes can keep their string of playoff berths going. The ultimate goal is to bring home an SECHL championship and add to the rich 40-year history club hockey has here at Marist.

The biggest storyline of the season is the change in the man behind the bench. Earlier this month, head coach Randall Hurlbert accepted a new role as general manager of the team, after serving the Foxes as both an assistant and head coach since 2016. With Hurlbert stepping down with around two weeks to go until the start of the season, the Red Foxes needed to act fast in finding a new head coach right before tryouts.

Replacing him this year is newly hired Anthony LoBianco , who brings 14 years of coaching experience to the team. Before coaching, LoBianco played at the AAA level and even got a taste of the pros with the Brewster Bulldogs of the Federal Hockey League. He has also coached at both the travel and junior level.

He has big shoes to fill in such a small amount of time, being hired right before the start of the season, but he feels that he is more than prepared to get the job done. Coach LoBianco has already hit the ice with his players in a small matter of time, trying to prepare them for the season in as little time as he can and get them to buy into this season.

“When you’re on the ice for practice and tryouts, you’re evaluating kids not only on a skill level, but on a personal level, and what I mean by that is you see how they act with their teammates and the family they bring to the table, said LoBianco. “One thing I established for the team is that we’re a family now, we’re going to work hard for each other and grow as a team.”

LoBianco highlighted some key players that have been on his radar, such as junior goalie Anthony Russo and sophomore forward Michael Russo.

With the Sept. 21 home opener later this afternoon, Marist hockey returns to Poughkeepsie for another season.

The Red Foxes are gearing up for a new year as they look to build upon the ups and downs of last season, where they extended their streak of playoff appearances to six, but suffered some losing skids and a first-round exit to rival Siena College.

With new faces coming to the program, there are a lot of questions surrounding whether the Foxes can keep their string of playoff berths going. The ultimate goal is to bring home an SECHL championship and add to the rich 40-year history club hockey has here at Marist.

The biggest storyline of the season is the change in the man behind the bench. Earlier this month, head coach Randall Hurlbert accepted a new role as general manager of the team, after serving the Foxes as both an assistant and head coach since 2016. With Hurlbert stepping down with around two weeks to go until the start of the season, the Red Foxes needed to act fast in finding a new head coach right before tryouts.

Replacing him this year is newly hired Anthony LoBianco , who brings 14 years of coaching experience to the team. Before coaching, LoBianco played at the AAA level and even got a taste of the pros with the Brewster Bulldogs of the Federal Hockey League. He has also coached at both the travel and junior level.

He has big shoes to fill in such a small amount of time, being hired right before the start of the season, but he feels that he is more than prepared to get the job done. Coach LoBianco has already hit the ice with his players in a small matter of time, trying to prepare them for the season in as little time as he can and get them to buy into this season.

“When you’re on the ice for practice and tryouts, you’re evaluating kids not only on a skill level, but on a personal level, and what I mean by that is you see how they act with their teammates and the family they bring to the table, said LoBianco. “One thing I established for the team is that we’re a family now, we’re going to work hard for each other and grow as a team.”

LoBianco highlighted some key players that have been on his radar, such as junior goalie Anthony Russo and sophomore forward Michael Russo.

Marist junior goalkeeper and club hockey president Anthony Russo. (Credit: Kira Crutcher)

“[Anthony] Russo is going to be one of our biggest assets this year. He can stand on his head in the pipes, and I think our goalies are going to be the backbone [of the team]. Michael Russo is also moving the puck well, and these guys are going to lead us,” said LoBianco

While new and still working to get to know his players, LoBianco has had great support from his team captains, praising them for doing a great job keeping the freshmen in line and detailing who plays with who. The established team leadership allows LoBianco to focus on the hockey side of things; he vows to work just as hard as his players will work for him.

“Everyone’s really on board with his systems,” said alternate captain and forward Sean Bruno. “He’s getting everyone motivated to play for him. He’s really motivated to win.”

A huge storyline for every collegiate sport leading up to the season is how teams will step up in place of the seniors lost from last year. The Red Foxes lost a staggering seven seniors from last season’s team, including forward James Hickman and defensemen Jack Barone, who both earned ACHA All-Star nods last year.

Hickman was tied for first on the team in goals, with 12 in 21 games, and was a point-per-game scorer in his final season. Barone was a team captain, anchoring the defensive unit for Marist. Alongside those two, the Foxes also lost another team captain, forward Jack Casey.

“We have a lot of young defensemen that need to take a bigger step up this year, and as for forwards we [also] need younger guys to step up into that role and get good continuity on lines and roll from there,” said captain and forward Christian Wilde. “But then again, that’s why we have freshmen coming in to get into the lineup and make an impact on games.”

While the Foxes did suffer some losses, they do return some key players, such as leading point scorer, junior forward Tyler Stoneman, who had 24 points (12G, 12A) across 21 games as a sophomore, and point-per-game forward Sean Bruno.

This season Marist is a relatively young team. Eight freshmen joined the team this year alongside a large group of sophomores. With the additions of fresh energy, determined mindsets and more experience for second year players, the Red Foxes hope to build on the weaknesses they experienced last season and grow as a team from it.

“There was a little bit of turmoil with the team [last year],” said Wilde. “In the second half of the season, we went on a skid where we lost three or four really big games that impacted our ranking in regionals. But now with a new coach and new culture, we’re going to try to build upon that.”

Marist senior forward and team captain Christian Wilde. (Credit: Kira Crutcher)

Wilde feels that with LoBianco at the helm and a new batch of players coming in, the faults experienced last season will not repeat themselves.

The Red Foxes’ home opener is set for Saturday, Sept. 21 against St. Thomas Aquinas. They will also be playing a multitude of SECHL games against rivals Army, Siena, Clarkson, Central Connecticut and Sacred Heart.

While every game should mean the same, there are some regular season games that the team has circled on the calendar.The three games against Siena hold extra weight for the team, given the two schools’ history, and the fact that Siena bounced Marist in the first round of last year’s playoffs.

“We have the Route 87 cup with Siena where we play them three times a year, and ever since I’ve been here, we’ve never beaten them two out of three times,” said Wilde. “It’s definitely something I’m looking forward to.”

Alongside the games against Siena, one of the biggest games every year is the pink-out game, in support of breast cancer awareness. This year, they’ll be facing off against Montclair State on Oct. 26 to continue the tradition.

Edited by Hayden Shapiro, Ben Leeds and Luke Sassa

Graphic and photos from Kira Crutcher

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