Fairfield Stags men's ice hockey

The Fairfield Stags Men's Ice Hockey was an NCAA Division I ice hockey team that played in the MAAC for five seasons.

History Fairfield's hockey program was elevated to Division III status in 1974 and found immediate success with a 19-7-1 mark under head coach John McCarthy. Despite being a D-I school, the Stags competed in ECAC's lower classification. McCarthy retired after the 1995-96 season and was replaced by Peter LaVigne who then stepped down after only one season. Mike Doneghey succeeded Lavigne and in Doneghey's first year Fairfield was ruled ineligible to play in ECAC's North/Central/South postseason after offering athletic scholarships, a violation of D-III rules. Fairfield had offered the scholarships because they were joining the newly formed Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) ice hockey conference which was to begin play in 1998-99. In their first year as a full D-I program Fairfield finished with one of the all-time worst records, going 1-31 over the course of the season and allowed an average of more than 7 goals per game. After the worst record in team history Doneghey was promptly replaced with Mark Dennehy and, though there was improvement, Dennehy himself left after a 3-28-3 season to become an assistant at Massachusetts. Jim Hunt assumed the reins for the 2000-01 season and saw to a resurgence in Fairfield's fortunes with an 11-win season, but the next two years saw diminishing returns with 6 and 8 wins.

Hunt was not able to push the Stags any further due to the University dropping the ice hockey program to club status after the 2002-03 season. The move came as a cost-cutting measure that also claimed Fairfield's football program. In five season as a D-I school, Fairfield finished last in their conference three times, made two conference tournaments and lost both of its playoffs games by a combined score of 23-7.

Today the Stags Men's Ice Hockey Team is a member of the ACHA and competes in the D3 division. Under new head coach Mike Silva, the team has seen an Empire Conference Championship in 2015 and three consecutive Regional Championships that vaulted the team into contention for the national title. In 2015 the team achieved a record of 0-3-0 on the national stage, yet still finished ranked 14th in the country. In 2016 the team achieved a record of 1-1-1 at nationals nearly qualifying for the semi-finals, ultimately the team finished 7th in the country that year. In 2017 the team earned a record of 1-2-0 and finished 12th in the country.

Season-by-season records SeasonDivisionConferenceRecordPct.PositionConference TournamentCoach 1974–75 Division III ECAC 3 19–7–1 .722 T–9th None John McCarthy 1975–76 Division III ECAC 3 13–11–1 .540 7th None John McCarthy 1976–77 Division III ECAC 3 11–11–0 .500 6th None John McCarthy 1977–78 Division III ECAC 3 8–12–1 .405 9th None John McCarthy 1978–79 Division III ECAC 3 7–16–0 .304 14th None John McCarthy 1979–80 Division III ECAC 3 13–13–0 .500 11th None John McCarthy 1980–81 Division III ECAC 3 14–9–1 .604 8th None John McCarthy 1981–82 Division III ECAC 3 9–14–1 .396 T–9th None John McCarthy 1982–83 Division III ECAC 3 10–13–0 .435 13th None John McCarthy 1983–84 Division III ECAC 3 8–13–3 .396 17th None John McCarthy 1984–85 Division III ECAC 3 5–19–0 .208 24th None John McCarthy 1985–86 Division III ECAC North/South 5–19–1 .220 26th None John McCarthy 1986–87 Division III ECAC North/South 7–17–0 .292 T–20th None John McCarthy 1987–88 Division III ECAC North/South 6–19–1 .250 28th None John McCarthy 1988–89 Division III ECAC North/South 5–21–0 .192 22nd None John McCarthy 1989–90 Division III ECAC North/South 9–12–2 .435 16th None John McCarthy 1990–91 Division III ECAC North/South 12–11–2 .520 14th None John McCarthy 1991–92 Division III ECAC North/South 16–12–0 .571 8th Division Semifinals John McCarthy 1992–93 Division III ECAC South 10–10–0 .500 2nd None John McCarthy 1993–94 Division III ECAC South 14–6–1 .690 2nd None John McCarthy 1994–95 Division III ECAC South 18–9–0 .667 2nd Quarterfinals John McCarthy 1995–96 Division III ECAC South 11–13–4 .464 2nd None John McCarthy 1996–97 Division III ECAC South 13–12–1 .519 3rd None Peter LaVigne 1997–98 Division III ECAC South 12–12–0 .500 N/A N/A Mike Doneghey 1998–99 Division I MAAC 1–31–0 .031 8th Quarterfinals Mike Doneghey 1999–00 Division I MAAC 3–28–3 .132 10th None Mark Dennehy 2000–01 Division I MAAC 11–19–2 .375 8th Quarterfinals Jim Hunt 2001–02 Division I MAAC 6–23–2 .234 10th None Jim Hunt 2002–03 Division I MAAC 8–23–2 .273 11th None Jim Hunt29 seasons––284–435–30.399––5 coaches

All-time coaching records TenureCoachYearsRecordPct. 1974–1996 John McCarthy 22 230–287–19 .447 1996–1997 Peter LaVigne 1 13–12–1 .519 1997–1999 Mike Doneghey 2 13–43–0 .232 1999–2000 Mark Dennehy 1 3–28–3 .132 2000–2003 Jim Hunt 3 25–65–7 .293Totals5 coaches29 seasons284–435–30.399

References