TROY, N.Y. – Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) Associate Vice President & Director of Athletics Dr. Lee McElroy has announced the hiring of Mathias Lange ’09 as the Operations Coordinator. A native of Klagenfurt, Austria, he will work with the men’s hockey program.
Among Lange’s responsibilities are video coordination, including breaking down game tapes, preparation and pre-scouting for upcoming opponents, team travel coordination and various administrative duties.
Lange joins the Engineers after a 10-year professional playing career as a goaltender in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) and DEL2. In 172 career games in the top flight between DEG Metro Stars and Iserlohn Roosters, he posted a 77-78 record, with a 2.83 goals against average and a .916 save percentage. He played his final six seasons with the Roosters, helping them to a pair of playoff appearances. In 2013, he was named Playoff Finals MVP for Bietigheim-Bissingen SC in DEL2.
Helping his home country of Austria to qualify for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, Lange earned the win in his only start of the tournament. He made 34 saves in a 3-1 victory over Norway on February 16, 2014, at Bolshoy Ice Dome.
During his career at RPI, Lange played in 108 games from 2005-09. He went 29-57-17, with a 2.95 goals against average and an .898 save percentage, with two shutouts in 6196:39 minutes. Earning ECAC Hockey All-Rookie Team honors in 2005-06, he posted a 13-15-6 record, with a 2.70 goals against average and a .901 save percentage. As a junior, he went 6-14-3, with a 2.47 goals against average and a .916 save percentage. The school’s all-time leader in losses and ties, he ranks third in games played, starts (102) and minutes, as well as fourth in saves (2,688).
A two-time Team MVP for the Engineers, he earned numerous awards for his work off the ice, including being named a finalist for the ECAC Hockey Student-Athlete of the Year, Lowe’s Senior CLASS All-America Second Team and the Livingston W. Houston Citizenship Award. The three-time ECAC Hockey All-Academic honoree also earned the team’s Community Service Award as a senior.
Since May of 2014, Lange has worked as a coach at Great Saves Goaltending in Orange, N.J., leading on-ice and synthetic ice lessons, clinics and camps. He also spent two years the USA Hockey Development Camps in Wayne, N.J. and Northford, Conn., as a goalie coach and evaluator. During his collegiate career, he was a goalie coach at the Behind the Mask Elite School of Goaltending in Lawrenceville, N.J.
Lange graduated from Rensselaer in May of 2009 with a Bacholor’s Degree in Management with a concentration in in finance and minor in sports psychology. A Dean’s List student, he was a member of the EDS Management Honor Society.
