What started as a shared love of hockey has become a 15-year tradition of competition and camaraderie for University of Richmond alumni who reunite on the ice each year.

Wearing uniforms with Spider insignia, the alumni play together in tournaments where their skates slash across the ice as they chase down pucks with their clacking sticks.

“My mom signed me up to play ice hockey when I was seven, and I’ve never stopped playing,” said Tom Occhino, a Buffalo native and the group’s organizer, who received his MBA from the Robins School of Business in 2006.

The UR Ice Hockey team is informal, with players joining based on availability. More than 30 alumni have laced up their skates over the years, including regulars Occhino, Scott Celander (2006), Justin Collins (2008), and Matt Improta (2010), and Tucker Blanton (2013).

The Spiders play in adult hockey leagues in their home cities, then reunite once or twice a year for tournaments in Austin, Fort Lauderdale, Las Vegas, and Nashville. Many opposing teams are also made up of former college players. The group has won 11 championships, including five Nashville Boom Boom Hockey Cup titles.

“The Boom Boom Cup is by age, so we've been signing up in the 30-plus division, even though a bunch of us are way over 30-plus,” Occhino said.

Richmond Hockey beginnings

All of the alumni players competed for Richmond’s hockey program, except Occhino, who served as the team’s first coach when it began on campus in 2001. At the time, he was working in Richmond as an engineer while playing in an adult league and coaching youth hockey.

“The Richmond hockey world is very small, so basically someone said, ‘Hey, there's this guy, he's got some hockey background,’” said Occhino.

He coached the team from 2001 to 2008 before moving back to Buffalo. Under his tutelage, the team twice qualified for the national championship and won four back-to-back Blue Ridge Hockey Conference championships.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the University of Richmond’s ice hockey team, which now competes in the American Collegiate Hockey Association Division II, part of the ACC Hockey League.

Intense dedication

“I love the game of hockey. I have been competing my whole life and competing at a high level,” said alum Matt Improta. “The fact that UR had a hockey team was very important to me and actually sealed the deal to come.”

UR Hockey is a club sport. The team practiced at 10:30 p.m. and spent many late nights on buses, in hotels and airports, and driving up and down the coast.

“It meant everyone was committed to being there and committed to the goal of winning,” Improta said. “My friends from hockey are some of my favorite people in my life still to this day. Incredible drive, smart, successful, and fundamentally good people. They would take their shirt off their back for you if you asked.”

The camaraderie of the team draws both Improta and Occhino.

“We love getting together, love having the old laughs, love telling the old stories,” said Occhino, who helped start an annual hockey reunion weekend at UR, which this year will take place during Parents’ Weekend. Alumni return to campus to reconnect, meet current players, and challenge them to a game.

The alumni also stay in touch through group chats — with the recent Stanley Cup providing much fodder — and a fantasy hockey league.

“I mean, these guys are hockey nuts,” Occhino said.