Head Coach Matt Kennedy is entering his 7th season in 2010. He is 69-67-8 in his years coaching at Neumann. The 2008-09 season proved to be the most successful season in program history. The Knights finished the season 16-10 and 12-6 in the ECAC West. In a season full of program “firsts”, the Knights hosted and won their first playoff game and held the longest national top 10 ranking in the eight years of program history. In the 2008-09 campaign, the Knights ranked ninth in the nation in scoring (averaging 3.70 goals a game) and 11th in the country in power play percentage (19.0%). In 2009-10, junior captain Jessica Schroeder, was named the NCAA Statistical Champion as she lead the country in assists with 27.
Kennedy earned his 50th win of his career January 24. 2009 with a 3-1 win over Cortland State. The Knights have made the playoffs ever year under Kennedy’s leadership and have advanced to the ECAC semi-finals four out of the six years. Over the six seasons, he has coached 17 ECAC West All-Conference players. Kennedy’s holds the distinction of the coach who has won the most games in program history.
This is the second time Kennedy has been the head coach of the Knights. After posting a 22-17-3 record in his first two years (2003-05), Kennedy left the Knights to join D-I, Quinnipiac University, as an assistant under Michael Barrett. He returned to his alma mater after leading the Bobcats to a 10-18-6 record, including wins over No. 9 Yale and No. 10 UConn.
Kennedy spends a lot of time working in the community with the development of area girls hockey programs. He is the owner of the Elite Goaltending Academy, which trains over 200 goalies a year. He is an annual speaker at the Philadelphia Flyers Youth Hockey Symposium at the Wachovia Center.
A 2001 graduate of Neumann, Kennedy earned his bachelors degree in Psychology and his masters degree in Strategic Leadership. In his playing days at Neumann he was the starting at goaltender for the Knights men’s program. He was also a two year captain. Kennedy lives in Springfield with his wife, Eileen and their son, Nolan.
