Former director of hockey operations Cavanagh back with Robert Morris women’s team as new assistant coach

CAVANAGH

Robert Morris announced on Thursday that Liam Cavanagh has been named the assistant coach for the Colonials’ women’s hockey team.

Cavanagh, who spent the 2021-22 season as an assistant coach with Canadian school Dalhousie, is in his second stint at Robert Morris, having spent three years as the director of hockey operations.

“We are extremely excited to have Liam back with RMU women’s hockey,” Colonials head coach Logan Bittle said in a statement. “Liam played an integral part in our success in his previous tenure with our team. He has a tremendous work ethic and bleeds RMU red and blue. He will be an amazing ambassador for our program and a tremendous asset to our current and future student athletes.”

The RMU women’s hockey team will return to the ice with the 2023-24 season as part of College Hockey America.

During the 2021-22 season at Dalhousie, Cavanagh was the primary goalie’s coach as he worked alongside Team Canada’s Olympic head coach Troy Ryan. He helped the Tigers earn a spot in the Atlantic University Sport (AUS) quarterfinal round.

Prior to his stint at Dalhousie, Cavanagh served as the director of hockey operations at UMass Boston for the men’s hockey program for two seasons.

“I’m exceptionally grateful to athletic director Chris King and head coach Logan Bittle for the opportunity to return to Robert Morris University,” Cavanagh said. “It’s great to be back in Pittsburgh, a place I was fortunate to spend a number of years learning from some of the best coaches around. I’ve had the pleasure of working with Coach Bittle previously and knowing the culture and pride the RMU family has built is extremely exciting to return to.”

Earning a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Acadia in 2017, with a focus in marketing and finance, Cavanagh then received a Master’s of Science degree with a focus in Data Analytics and Nonprofit Leadership at Robert Morris in 2019. Before his career on the business and coaching side of hockey, Cavanagh was a goaltender for Charles P. Allen High School and with junior programs in the MHL and NSJHL.

Cavanagh is the founder and CEO of several startup companies including a sports apparel company that focused on charitable efforts rather than profit-making. He also founded a non-profit organization that was built to help professional and collegiate athletes understand the importance of a balanced lifestyle, while maintaining and understanding the significance that mental health plays in everyday life.

His coaching career began in 2009 with Finngoalie, a group that provides training for professional/elite goaltenders, where he excelled his coaching skills, drill development, and evaluation which has enabled him to work with elite goaltenders and players around the world through the summer months.