Bill Riga

American ice hockey player and coach

Bill Riga

Current position
Title| Head coach
Team| Holy Cross
Conference| AHA
Biographical details
Born|  (1974-05-26) May 26, 1974 (age 51)
Westborough, MA, US
Alma mater| University of Massachusetts Lowell
Playing career
1992–1996| Massachusetts–Lowell
1996–1997| El Paso Buzzards
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1996–2003| Boston Junior Bruins (assistant)
2003–2008| Union (assistant)
2008–2021| Quinnipiac (associate)
2021–present| Holy Cross
Head coaching record
Overall| 74–72–11 (.506)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships

* AHA regular season (2025)

Awards

* Atlantic Hockey America Coach of the Year (2025)

William Riga is the current head coach for Holy Cross Crusaders men's ice hockey. Previously he was an associate head coach at Quinnipiac and helped the team reach the National Championship game in 2013 and 2016.[1]

## Career

[edit]

Riga began his college career in 1992 after graduating from St. Mark's School. After playing just two games as a freshman, he became a fixture on the team a depth scorer for the next three seasons. In that time he helped the team reach the NCAA Tournament twice, making the national quarterfinals on both occasions. After graduating, Riga briefly played as a professional, retiring after just 7 games and immediately turning to coach.

Riga's first job was for the Boston Junior Bruins as both the team's assistant coach and director of recruitment. He spent most of seven seasons with the team before returning to the college ranks as an assistant under new head coach Nate Leaman at Union. He remained with the Dutchmen for five years before taking the same position at Quinnipiac. Riga became the team's primary recruiter in 2012 and the Bobcats jumped from the middle of ECAC Hockey straight to the top. That year Quinnipiac won 30 games for the first time and reached the national championship game where they were defeated by in-state rival Yale.[2] Over the course of the succeeding seven seasons, Quinnipiac remained one of the top programs in the country, finishing atop their conference four times and making five further NCAA tournament appearances.

After the resignation of David Berard in 2021, Holy Cross hired Riga as the program's 7th head coach.[3]

## Statistics

[edit]

### Regular season and playoffs

[edit]

|  | Regular season |  | Playoffs

|
|
|
|

Season | Team  | League  | GP  | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP  | G  | A  | Pts  | PIM
1991–92  | St. Mark's School | US-Prep  | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | —
1992–93 | Massachusetts–Lowell | Hockey East | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | —
1993–94 | Massachusetts–Lowell | Hockey East | 26 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 12 | — | — | — | — | —
1994–95 | Massachusetts–Lowell | Hockey East | 32 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 10 | — | — | — | — | —
1995–96 | Massachusetts–Lowell | Hockey East | 35 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 12 | — | — | — | — | —
1996–97 | El Paso Buzzards | WPHL | 7 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | —
NCAA totals  | 95 | 12 | 18 | 30 | 34 | — | — | — | — | —

## Head coaching record

[edit]

Statistics overview  Season  | Team  | Overall  | Conference  | Standing  | Postseason

|
|
|
|
|

Holy Cross Crusaders (Atlantic Hockey) (2021–2024)
2021–22 | Holy Cross | 12–23–2 (.351) | 10–14–2 (.423) | 10th | Atlantic Hockey First Round
2022–23 | Holy Cross | 17–21–3 (.451) | 12–12–2 (.500) | 7th | Atlantic Hockey Runner-Up
2023–24 | Holy Cross | 21–14–4 (.590) | 13–10–3 (.558) | 2nd | Atlantic Hockey Semifinals
Holy Cross: | 50–58–9 (.466) | 35–36–7 (.494) |
Holy Cross Crusaders (AHA) (2024–present)
2024–25 | Holy Cross | 24–14–2 (.625) | 19–5–2 (.769) | 1st | AHA Runner-up
Holy Cross: | 24–14–2 (.625) | 19–5–2 (.769) |
Total: | 74–72–11 (.506) |

National champion Postseason invitational champion
Conference regular season champion Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
Division regular season champion Division regular season and conference tournament champion
Conference tournament champion

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Bill Riga". Quinnipiac Bobcats. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
2. ^ "Saturday, April 13, 2013". College Hockey Stats. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
3. ^ "Holy Cross names Bill Riga head men's ice hockey coach". Holy Cross Crusaders. May 4, 2021. Retrieved August 21, 2021.

## External links

[edit]

* Holy Cross Crusaders bio
* Biographical information and career statistics from Eliteprospects.com, or The Internet Hockey Database

Awards and achievements

Preceded by

Inaugural

|  Atlantic Hockey America Coach of the Year
2024–25 |  Succeeded by

Incumbent

* v
* t
* e

Holy Cross Crusaders men's ice hockey

Playing venues|

* Hart Center (1975–present)

Head coaches|

* Bill Kane (1966–1976)
* Mike Addesa (1976–1979)
* Peter Van Buskirk (1979–1988, 1996–1997)
* Bill Bellerose (1988–1994)
* Paul Pearl (1994–1996, 1997–2014)
* David Berard (2014–2021)
* Bill Riga (2021–Present)

Seasons|

* 1966–67
* 1967–68
* 1968–69
* 1969–70
* 1970–71
* 1971–72
* 1972–73
* 1973–74
* 1974–75
* 1975–76
* 1976–77
* 1977–78
* 1978–79
* 1979–80
* 1980–81
* 1981–82
* 1982–83
* 1983–84
* 1984–85
* 1985–86
* 1986–87
* 1987–88
* 1988–89
* 1989–90
* 1990–91
* 1991–92
* 1992–93
* 1993–94
* 1994–95
* 1995–96
* 1996–97
* 1997–98
* 1998–99
* 1999–00
* 2000–01
* 2001–02
* 2002–03
* 2003–04
* 2004–05
* 2005–06
* 2006–07
* 2007–08
* 2008–09
* 2009–10
* 2010–11
* 2011–12
* 2012–13
* 2013–14
* 2014–15
* 2015–16
* 2016–17
* 2017–18
* 2018–19
* 2019–20
* 2020–21
* 2021–22
* 2022–23
* 2023–24
* 2024–25

Conference affiliations|

* ECAC 2 (1967–1984)
* ECAC East (1984–1998)
* MAAC (1998–2003)
* Atlantic Hockey (2003–present)

All-time leaders|

* Statistical leaders
* Joe Lunny (219 Points)
* Larry Murphy (119 Goals)
* Tony Quesada (61 Wins)

NCAA Tournament appearances

* 2004
* 2006

Conference Tournament titles|

* MAAC: 1999
* Atlantic Hockey: 2004
* 2006

* College of the Holy Cross
* Worcester, MA

* v
* t
* e

Current head coaches of Atlantic Hockey America

Men's|

* Frank Serratore (Air Force)
* Zach McKelvie (Army)
* Andy Jones (Bentley)
* Trevor Large (Canisius)
* Bill Riga (Holy Cross)
* Rick Gotkin (Mercyhurst)
* Jason Lammers (Niagara)
* Matt Thomas (RIT)
* Derek Schooley (Robert Morris)
* C. J. Marottolo (Sacred Heart)

Women's|

* Taylor Wasylk (Lindenwood)
* Michael Sisti (Mercyhurst)
* Jeff Kampersal (Penn State)
* Celeste Brown (RIT)
* Logan Bittle (Robert Morris)
* Britni Smith (Syracuse)

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template