# 2022–23 LIU Sharks men's ice hockey season

The 2022–23 LIU Sharks men's ice hockey season was the 3rd season of play for the program. The Sharks represented Long Island University and were coached by Brett Riley, in his 3rd season.

## Season

LIU entered the season hoping to continue its upward trend, however, they would first have to contend with a major obstacle. More than half of the roster changed in the offseason, including most of the leading scorers. 18 new players were brought in to fill in the gaps with about a third transferring from other programs. The lack of familiarity showed early in the year when the offense had trouble getting on track. In its first 10 games, the Sharks scored just 23 goals and lost 8 of those contests. Excluding the game against Stonehill, who were playing their first game as an equal Division I member, Long Island could barely generate any offense and well out of it just a month into the season. Evan a surprise tie with Quinnipiac didn't do much to improve the team's outlook.
The situation in goal was better, but not by much. Starter Vinnie Purpura was inconsistent during the year but did provide some highlight for the team. His brightest performance came against Ohio State by making 32 saves in the program's first win over a ranked team. That victory came during a 5–2 run, however, because the Sharks were still having to schedule Division II opponents to fill out their schedule, only two of those wins were counted for the national rankings.
The lack of stability on the back end caused LIU to miss several more chances at wins. It got to the point where coach Riley turned to backup Brandon Perrone for help in goal. After changing to goaltender rotation, the Sharks started winning more, however they also began playing some of the worst teams in college hockey. A 5-game winning streak that the team put together in January and February came with four of those games being played against the two newest Division I teams, Stonehill and Lindenwood. The Sharks were able to post a win over tournament hopeful Alaska, but the team ended up stumbling to the finish with a 2–7 skid.

## Departures

| Player | Position | Nationality | Cause |
| Max Balinson | Defenseman | Canada | Graduation (signed with Cincinnati Cyclones) |
| Zack Bross | Forward | United States | Graduation (signed with Worcester Railers) |
| Kristofer Carlson | Goaltender | United States | Graduation (retired) |
| Daine Dubois | Forward | Canada | Left program (retired) |
| Carter Ekberg | Defenseman | United States | Graduation (retired) |
| Jacob Franczak | Forward | Canada | Transferred to Skidmore |
| Tanner Hopps | Forward | Canada | Left program (retired) |
| Billy Jerry | Forward | United States | Graduation (signed with Adirondack Thunder) |
| P. J. Marrocco | Forward | Canada | Graduation (retired) |
| Robert McCollum | Defenseman | Canada | Transferred to UNLV |
| Nolan McElhaney | Defenseman | United States | Left program (retired) |
| Carson Musser | Defenseman | United States | Graduation (signed with Norfolk Admirals) |
| Derek Osik | Forward | United States | Graduation (signed with Evansville Thunderbolts) |
| Jake Stevens | Defenseman | United States | Graduation (signed with Iowa Heartlanders) |
| Justin Thompson | Forward | United States | Left program (retired) |
| Jordan Timmons | Forward | United States | Graduation (signed with Idaho Steelheads) |
| Tyler Welsh | Forward | Canada | Graduation (signed with Newfoundland Growlers) |
| Marty Westhaver | Forward | Canada | Left program (retired) |
| Aaron White | Forward | United States | Left program (retired) |

## Recruiting

| Player | Position | Nationality | Age | Notes |
| Daniel Baldassarra | Forward | Canada | 20 | Vaughan, ON |
| Austin Brimmer | Forward | Canada | 20 | Markham, ON |
| A. J. Casperson | Defenseman | United States | 21 | Flower Mound, TX |
| Adam Goodsir | Forward | United States | 24 | Okemos, MI; graduate transfer from Michigan State |
| Xan Gurney | Defenseman | United States | 22 | Grosse Ile, MI; transfer from Western Michigan |
| Santeri Hartikainen | Forward | Finland | 23 | Edmonton, AB; transfer from American International |
| Noah Kane | Forward | United States | 22 | Buffalo, NY; transfer from Mercyhurst |
| Tyler Kostelecky | Forward | United States | 21 | Maple Grove, MN |
| Patriks Marcinkēvičs | Forward | Latvia | 21 | Riga, LAT |
| Cade Mason | Defenseman | Canada | 21 | Red Deer, AB |
| Chris Pappas | Forward | Canada | 21 | Etobicoke, ON; transfer from St. Lawrence |
| Valtteri Piironen | Defenseman | Finland | 21 | Pyhäselkä, FIN |
| Austin Rook | Defenseman | United States | 25 | Shrewsbury, MA; graduate transfer from Skidmore |
| Jan Škorpík | Goaltender | Czech Republic | 21 | Brandys nad Labem, CZE |
| Anthony Vincent | Forward | United States | 25 | Wilton, CT; graduate transfer from Holy Cross |
| Riley Wallack | Forward | Canada | 21 | South Surrey, BC |
| Josh Zary | Forward | Canada | 20 | Nanaimo, BC |

## Standings

2022–23 NCAA Division I Independent ice hockey standingsvte :
| | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record | Overall record |
| | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA |
| #15 Alaska | 34 | 22 | 10 | 2 | 104 | 74 |
| Alaska Anchorage | 28 | 8 | 19 | 1 | 66 | 106 |
| Arizona State | 39 | 18 | 21 | 0 | 115 | 112 |
| Lindenwood | 30 | 7 | 22 | 1 | 92 | 134 |
| Long Island | 36 | 13 | 22 | 1 | 116 | 123 |
| Stonehill | 25 | 17 | 6 | 2 | 102 | 95 |
| Rankings: USCHO.com Top 20 Poll ||||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date | Time | Opponent$^#$ | Site | TV | Decision | Result | Attendance | Record |
| Regular Season ||||||||||
| October 1 | 7:30 PM | at #8 Northeastern* | Matthews Arena • Boston, Massachusetts | ESPN+ | Purpura | L 2–3 $^{OT}$ | 2,579 | 0–1–0 |
| October 8 | 5:00 PM | at Stonehill* | Bridgewater Ice Arena • Bridgewater, Massachusetts | | Purpura | W 7–1 | 175 | 1–1–0 |
| October 9 | 2:00 PM | at #6 Quinnipiac* | M&T Bank Arena • Hamden, Connecticut | ESPN+ | Purpura | T 2–2 $^{OT}$ | 2,731 | 1–1–1 |
| October 14 | 7:00 PM | at Rensselaer* | Houston Field House • Troy, New York | ESPN+ | Purpura | L 0–1 | 1,549 | 1–2–1 |
| October 21 | 7:00 PM | at Michigan State* | Munn Ice Arena • East Lansing, Michigan | BTN+ | Purpura | L 1–3 | 4,594 | 1–3–1 |
| October 22 | 6:00 PM | at Michigan State* | Munn Ice Arena • East Lansing, Michigan | BTN+ | Purpura | L 4–8 | 4,623 | 1–4–1 |
| October 28 | 7:45 PM | Omaha* | Northwell Health Ice Center • East Meadow, New York | ESPN+ | Purpura | L 1–2 | 738 | 1–5–1 |
| October 29 | 7:00 PM | Omaha* | Northwell Health Ice Center • East Meadow, New York | ESPN+ | Purpura | L 1–7 | 300 | 1–6–1 |
| November 11 | 8:00 PM | at Wisconsin* | Kohl Center • Madison, Wisconsin | BSW+ | Purpura | L 2–3 | 6,058 | 1–7–1 |
| November 12 | 8:00 PM | at Wisconsin* | Kohl Center • Madison, Wisconsin | BSW | Purpura | L 3–4 $^{OT}$ | 7,650 | 1–8–1 |
| November 19 | 6:50 PM | at Assumption* | Worcester Ice Center • Worcester, Massachusetts | | Purpura | W 5–1 | 208 | 2–8–1 |
| November 25 | 7:45 PM | #12 Ohio State* | Northwell Health Ice Center • East Meadow, New York | ESPN+ | Purpura | W 3–2 | 526 | 3–8–1 |
| November 26 | 8:00 PM | #12 Ohio State* | Northwell Health Ice Center • East Meadow, New York | ESPN+ | Purpura | L 1–4 | 516 | 3–9–1 |
| December 3 | 8:00 PM | Brown* | Northwell Health Ice Center • East Meadow, New York | ESPN+ | Purpura | L 1–5 | 300 | 3–10–1 |
| December 4 | 7:15 PM | Brown* | Northwell Health Ice Center • East Meadow, New York | ESPN+ | Perrone | W 5–4 $^{OT}$ | 200 | 4–10–1 |
| December 10 | 7:00 PM | Franklin Pierce* | Northwell Health Ice Center • East Meadow, New York | ESPN+ | Purpura | W 6–1 | 516 | 5–10–1 |
| December 11 | 7:15 PM | Franklin Pierce* | Northwell Health Ice Center • East Meadow, New York | ESPN+ | Perrone | W 9–2 | 200 | 6–10–1 |
| December 18 | 7:15 PM | Northeastern* | Northwell Health Ice Center • East Meadow, New York | ESPN+ | Purpura | L 3–4 $^{OT}$ | 717 | 6–11–1 |
| December 29 | 7:00 PM | #10 Connecticut* | Northwell Health Ice Center • East Meadow, New York | ESPN+ | Purpura | L 1–2 $^{OT}$ | 707 | 6–12–1 |
| December 31 | 1:05 PM | at #10 Connecticut* | XL Center • Hartford, Connecticut | ESPN+ | Purpura | L 3–5 | 4,647 | 6–13–1 |
| January 13 | 7:00 PM | at Princeton* | Hobey Baker Memorial Rink • Princeton, New Jersey | ESPN+ | Purpura | L 2–5 | 1,300 | 6–14–1 |
| January 14 | 7:00 PM | at #1 Quinnipiac* | M&T Bank Arena • Hamden, Connecticut | ESPN+ | Purpura | L 2–5 | 1,100 | 6–15–1 |
| January 20 | 3:00 PM | Lindenwood* | Northwell Health Ice Center • East Meadow, New York | ESPN+ | Perrone | W 3–2 $^{OT}$ | 422 | 7–15–1 |
| January 21 | 8:00 PM | Lindenwood* | Northwell Health Ice Center • East Meadow, New York | ESPN+ | Purpura | W 6–4 | 250 | 8–15–1 |
| January 28 | 7:00 PM | at Princeton* | Hobey Baker Memorial Rink • Princeton, New Jersey | ESPN+ | Perrone | W 6–4 | 1,817 | 9–15–1 |
| February 3 | 3:00 PM | Stonehill* | Northwell Health Ice Center • East Meadow, New York | ESPN+ | Perrone | W 9–3 | 210 | 10–15–1 |
| February 4 | 2:00 PM | Stonehill* | Northwell Health Ice Center • East Meadow, New York | ESPN+ | Purpura | W 9–1 | 337 | 11–15–1 |
| February 10 | 3:00 PM | #20 Alaska* | Northwell Health Ice Center • East Meadow, New York | ESPN+ | Purpura | L 3–5 | 372 | 11–16–1 |
| February 11 | 2:00 PM | #20 Alaska* | Northwell Health Ice Center • East Meadow, New York | ESPN+ | Perrone | W 3–1 | 230 | 12–16–1 |
| February 17 | 11:07 PM | at Alaska* | Carlson Center • Fairbanks, Alaska | FloHockey | Perrone | L 2–3 | 1,912 | 12–17–1 |
| February 18 | 11:07 PM | at Alaska* | Carlson Center • Fairbanks, Alaska | FloHockey | Purpura | L 3–6 | 2,817 | 12–18–1 |
| February 25 | 2:00 PM | Alaska Anchorage* | Northwell Health Ice Center • East Meadow, New York | ESPN+ | Purpura | L 0–4 | 500 | 12–19–1 |
| February 26 | 7:15 PM | Alaska Anchorage* | Northwell Health Ice Center • East Meadow, New York | ESPN+ | Perrone | W 6–2 | 456 | 13–19–1 |
| February 28 | 3:00 PM | Alaska Anchorage* | Northwell Health Ice Center • East Meadow, New York | ESPN+ | Perrone | L 3–5 | 300 | 13–20–1 |
| March 10 | 10:00 PM | at Arizona State* | Mullett Arena • Tempe, Arizona | | Perrone | L 3–6 | 4,448 | 13–21–1 |
| March 11 | 10:00 PM | at Arizona State* | Mullett Arena • Tempe, Arizona | | Purpura | L 1–2 $^{OT}$ | 4,516 | 13–22–1 |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Eastern Time. Source: ||||||||||

## Scoring statistics

| Name | Position | Games | Goals | Assists | Points | PIM |
| Anthony Vincent | F | 36 | 17 | 20 | 37 | 78 |
| Adam Goodsir | F | 35 | 15 | 19 | 34 | 64 |
| Cade Mason | D | 26 | 7 | 25 | 32 | 8 |
| Patriks Marcinkēvičs | LW | 24 | 6 | 21 | 27 | 23 |
| Riley Wallack | F | 35 | 11 | 9 | 20 | 20 |
| Josh Zary | F | 28 | 12 | 5 | 17 | 0 |
| Noah Kane | C | 34 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 14 |
| Austin Brimmer | RW | 32 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 27 |
| Jordan Di Cicco | D | 34 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 10 |
| Nolan Welsh | F | 32 | 5 | 12 | 17 | 12 |
| Jack Quinn | F | 36 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 6 |
| Spencer Cox | C/D | 34 | 1 | 12 | 13 | 10 |
| Isaiah Fox | F | 24 | 9 | 1 | 10 | 26 |
| Valtteri Piironen | D | 32 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 26 |
| Preston Brodziak | F | 28 | 1 | 8 | 9 | 12 |
| Chris Pappas | C | 23 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 8 |
| Austin Rook | D | 33 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 10 |
| John Gormley | D | 36 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 30 |
| Zachary Nazzarett | LW | 17 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| Daniel Baldassarra | C | 17 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| Santeri Hartikainen | C/RW | 22 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Gustav Müller | F | 11 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Dylan Schuett | C | 16 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| A. J. Casperson | D | 8 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 10 |
| Brandon Perrone | G | 14 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Tyler Kostelecky | F | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Xan Gurney | D | 14 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| Jan Škorpík | G | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ethan Martini | D | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 |
| Vinnie Purpura | G | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bench | - | - | - | - | - | 0 |
| Total | | | 121 | 209 | 330 | 435 |

## Goaltending statistics

| Name | Games | Minutes | Wins | Losses | Ties | Goals Against | Saves | Shut Outs | SV % | GAA |
| Brandon Perrone | 14 | 675:02 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 32 | 255 | 0 | .889 | 2.84 |
| Jan Škorpík | 1 | 20:00 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 | .875 | 3.00 |
| Vincent Purpura | 26 | 1464:47 | 6 | 19 | 1 | 83 | 690 | 0 | .893 | 3.40 |
| Empty Net | - | 21:12 | - | - | - | 7 | - | - | - | - |
| Total | 36 | 2181:01 | 13 | 22 | 1 | 123 | 952 | 0 | .886 | 3.38 |

## Rankings

| Poll | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 (Final) |
| USCHO.com | NR | - | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | - | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | - | NR |
| USA Today | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR | NR |
Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 1, 13, or 26.