Bill Riga

Bill Riga
Current position
Title	Head coach
Team	Holy Cross
Conference	Atlantic Hockey
Biographical details
Born	May 26, 1974 (age 49); 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	50–58–9 (.466)

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–present)
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)
Total:		50–58–9 (.466)
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]

^ "Bill Riga". Quinnipiac Bobcats. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
^ "Saturday, April 13, 2013". College Hockey Stats. Retrieved August 21, 2021.
^ "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

[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.

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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
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