Cornell University Athletics

Chris Kivlen joined the Big Red as an assistant coach prior to the 2015 season, coming to East Hill following three extremely successful seasons as the head coach at Montclair State. He assists the staff on both ends of the field, playing an important role with the face off unit.
 
In his first season, he helped the Big Red to a 10-6 record overall (4-2 Ivy) and claimed a share of its 29th Ivy League title and made its 27th NCAA tournament appearance. Cornell ranked in the top 10 of the USILA Coaches Poll in 10-of-13 weeks during the season, rising as high as No. 7 on March 16 following a dominating win over Yale. The Big Red earned an eight-seed in the NCAA Tournament, where it fell to Albany in the first round.
 
Under Kivlen’s direction, Cornell had one of the top face-off units in the nation, ranking first in the Ivy League and fourth in the country with a .657 face-off win percentage. Big Red face-off specialist Domenic Massimilian proved to be the breakout star of the 2015 campaign, finishing the year ranked first in the Ivy League and seventh in the country with a .654 winning percentage. He broke the school record for face-off win percentage (.648; Frank Kelly in 1986) that stood for nearly 30 years, and also set the new standard for wins in a single season with 249 (249-of-381). 
 
In his three seasons with the Red Hawks, Kivlen registered an overall record of 41-13, including a perfect conference record (18-0), three league championships and three NCAA Tournament appearances. For his efforts, he was named the Skyline Conference Coach of the Year each season and turned Montclair State into one of the top programs in the region.

Last season, Kivlen guided the Red Hawks to the best campaign in school history, going 16-2 and establishing a new single-season record for victories. The team began the year with six straight wins, including the program’s first-ever over a top 10 opponent, as it upset No. 6 Dickinson College. The impressive start to the season catapulted MSU into the USILA Division III Coaches’ Poll for the first time since 2010 before eventually reaching as high as No. 10 in the poll for the first time in program history.

Under Kivlen’s tutelage, MSU swept the Skyline Player and Rookie of the Year honors in each of his three seasons as he coached 28 all-conference selections and eight All-Americans.

Prior to his time at Montclair State, Kivlen spent six seasons as an assistant coach at his alma mater, the University at Albany, and helped the Great Danes to become a perennial contender in the America East Conference as well as a fixture in the USILA Coaches’ Poll.
 
During his tenure with the Great Danes, Kivlen coached 25 America East All-Conference selections, including 10 first-team selections and 14 all-rookie team picks.

In just his second season on the sidelines, Albany enjoyed their finest season in program history, winning its first 11 contests, including victories over four-ranked teams, and reaching the No. 2 spot in the USILA poll and remaining there for seven consecutive weeks. Albany would capture its fourth America East title in five years by edging UMBC, 15-14, to reach the NCAA Tournament where it knocked off Loyola in the first round before falling to Cornell in overtime of the NCAA quarterfinals.  

A standout defenseman during his playing career for the Great Danes, Kivlen was part of three conference championship teams. He earned his degree in communications with a minor in business administration in May 2005 and immediately joined the coaching staff under Scott Marr.

A native of Huntington Station, N.Y., Kivlen received all-league recognition at Walt Whitman High. 

* Updated June 2015