The origin of the Farmingdale State College Ice Hockey Team dates back to the late 1970s when some dedicated young student-athletes worked very hard to find a way to continue to play the game they loved while furthering their education at the college level.  After gaining a charter from the college, and finding a league to play in, the founding members of the Farmingdale State College Hockey Team enjoyed a number of successful seasons only to see the program disband after some logistical problems manifested after only a handful of years. After a short hiatus, a new group of student-athletes once again tried to restart the program in the early 1990s as members of the Metropolitan Collegiate Hockey Conference.  

 

To their credit, the Rams had a successful run once again as an organization, only to see the program close its ranks in the late 1990s until the 2002-2003 season.  As the saying goes, “the third time was a charm”.  With the drive of Coach Howard Hutton (former Farmingdale State team captain 1995-97), some very ambitious student-athletes and a supportive faculty advisor Professor Ernest DeFalco, the Farmingdale State Hockey Program was reborn.  After enduring some growing pains early in the program's third act, the Farmingdale State Hockey Team ascended to the competitive stage in 2007 when they earned their first appearance in the MCHC playoffs. Though the Rams were ultimately defeated in the semi-finals, the program’s new desire to compete and succeed at a higher level had been forged.

 

The team then set out to find the leadership and vision needed to elevate the program's status and level and, in the spring of 2007, the team hired Jon LaRochester to serve as the new Head Coach and General Manager. With their new vision and the leadership of a new Head Coach and GM, the program set off in 2007 on a path to becoming one of the most highly decorated and respected D3 hockey club’s in America. In 2019, the Farmingdale State hockey program along with their Empire Conference partners, elected to leave the ACHA and become founding members of the Collegiate Hockey Federation. In a move aimed at providing the best possible college hockey experience for its members, the CHF has become the home to more than 150 D2 and D3 programs in more than 17 states nationwide.

 

Since the 2007 season, the Farmingdale State Hockey Team has transcended to the ranks of the elite, both in the ACHA and now in the CHF. Under the leadership and direction of its Director of Hockey Operations and General Manager (LaRochester 2007-Present), its four head coaches (LaRochester 2007-2011, Dorsey 2011-2013, Dymski 2013, Mazzie 2013-Present), it's two faculty advisors (DeFalco 2003-2013, Poplarski 2013-Present) and the commitment and dedication of the nearly 200 student-athletes that have put the Farmingdale jersey on. Farmingdale State Hockey has grown to the ranks as a nationally renowned program and fixture in the non-varsity college hockey landscape in America.

 

In the fall of 2021, Farmingdale State elevated its first team to the D2 ranks and added another D3 to its organizational structure. Led by Joseph Mazzie (D2) and Michael Leprine (D3), the Farmingdale State College Hockey program continues to chase the only thing the program hasn't achieved, the coveted National Championship. Farmingdale State Hockey continues to forge a path of future successes by embodying the idea that “the strength of the team is each individual member and the strength of each member is the team." --Phil Jackson