The coaching vacancies on the men’s hockey team were filled over the past few weeks, with the hiring of Jeff Matthews ’95 and Frank Bretti. They both join the staff of head coach Dan Fridgen, who is entering his tenth year behind the Rensselaer bench. They fill the spots vacated by Andrew Will, who left to become head coach at Upper Canada College, and Ivan Moore ’92, who is pursuing other opportunities outside of hockey.
Matthews had spent the last three years as the head hockey coach for Northfield Mount Hermon, a western Massachusetts prep school. Ten players went on to play college hockey at the Division I level under his tenure. Prior to that, he was a top assistant coach and the recruiting coordinator at American International College.
Matthews spent four years as a forward for the Engineers from 1991-1992 to 1994-1995, the final year of which he played under Coach Fridgen and won an ECAC championship. Matthews had two NCAA tournament appearances, coming in 1994 and 1995. In 124 career games, he had 15 goals and 25 assists, with 76 penalty minutes.
Matthews joined the Engineers after playing at Deerfield Academy, where he was the team’s most valuable player and captain. After his RPI career, Matthews played professional hockey in Sweden, and received his Masters in Educational Psychology from American International.
Bretti was the only D-I coach that Iona College ever had during its existence. The program was elevated to D-I status in 1997-1998, and was eliminated after the 2002-2003 season. In those six years, the Gaels played in two conference Final Fours, reaching the finals in 1999-2000.
Bretti coached several Metro-Atlantic Athletic Conference players of the year, and had one Hobey Baker Award finalist in Ryan Carter in the 2001-2002 season.
Bretti also served as an assistant coach at Iona and the University of Alaska at Anchorage and has been involved in the Player Development Program for USA Hockey, including a spell as head coach of the New York State Select 16 team.
Will’s departure ends a nine-year relationship with the capital region. He was a defenseman for Union College from 1993-1997, and after two years in the East Coast Hockey League, he returned to be an assistant at Union from 1999-2002.
