Matt Plante - Men's Ice Hockey Coach - Brown University Athletics

Matt Plante

Title:
Assistant Coach
Email:
matthew_plante1@brown.edu
Joined Brown:
August 2022
Alma Mater:
Quinnipiac '02

Plante joined the Brown men's hockey staff in August 2022 and enters his fourth season with the program in 2025-26. He joined the Brown staff after spending four years as the Co-Director of Hockey Operations and the Midget Major (18U) Head Coach at Mount St. Charles Academy.

The 2024-25 season saw the Bears host a home playoff game for the first time since 2019, a 3-2 victory over Princeton, in the most successful season in two decades on College Hill. The Bears swept Clarkson and St. Lawrence on the road for the first time since 2004 and just the third time in program history. Brown took a home win over both teams to complete the season sweeps - the first time Brown has swept both the Golden Knights and Saints in the same season. It marked the first season sweep over Clarkson since 2009-10 and just the fourth in program history.

Brown also posted a five-game winning streak in January 2025, marking the first five-game streak since the 2009-10 season and just the fifth dating back to the start of the 1977-78 season. The Bears also swept the regular season series against Yale for the first time since 2004-05 and just the fifth time since the start of the 1979-80 campaign.

Three Bears picked up All-ECAC honors with Lawton Zacher earning Second Team recognition, Tyler Kopff earning Third Team honors, and Brian Nicholas earning All-Rookie recognition. Additionally, Alex Pineau was named a finalist for the ECAC Best Defensive Defenseman Award and Max Scott was named a finalist for the Best Defensive Forward Award. The Bears also picked up five All-Ivy honorees and matched Cornell with two First Team selections in Kopff and Zacher. Pineau and Ryan St. Louis picked up All-IVy recognition for the second consecutive year and Scott also earned an All-Ivy nod.

Two freshmen: Lawton Zacher and Max Scott, earned spots on the HCA Tim Taylor Rookie of the Year Award Watch List in 2023-24 in addition to transfer Ryan St. Louis earning Walter Brown Award semifinalist honors and a Hobey Baker Memorial Award nomination. Additionally, freshman Alex Pineau and St. Louis earned All-Ivy accolades after breakout seasons with the Bears.

Plante helped the Bears produce offensively in 2022-23, finishing the season with 65 goals for, the most since the 2018-19 season. Brown also tallied 17 power play goals, the most since 2017-18, with James Crossman recording six power play goals.

Freshman Ryan Bottrill was the first rookie since 2015-16 to finish the season with 20 or more points. The Chandler, Arizona native finished the 2022-23 campaign with 21 points and a spot on the HCA Tim Taylor Rookie of the Year Award Watch List.

“I am very excited to announce Matt Plante to our coaching staff and welcome him to Brown University,” said head coach Brendan Whittet '94. “Matt is an experienced recruiter, has worked at many levels of hockey, and has consistently won at a high rate at all his coaching stops.

“His exceptional work at Mount Saint Charles Academy as the Co-Director of Hockey Operations and the Head Coach of the 18U Midget Major Team culminated with his team winning the 18U Midget Major USA Hockey National Championship. Matt has earned an outstanding reputation for his work ethic, his ability to recruit, his ability to connect with his players and his ability to coach. Most importantly, I see him as an excellent fit with our program and culture.”

Plante guided the Mount St. Charles program to a 122-23-13 record as the bench boss and led the program to the USA Hockey Tier I 18U National Championship in 2022, taking a 6-2 win over the St. Louis Blues last April.

In total, Plante’s Mount teams finished in the top-five of the National Rankings three times.

"I am very honored and excited to be part of Brown University and the men's hockey program and family,” said Plante. “It is a very exciting time to be a part of the Brown community whether it be as a student-athlete, coach, administrator, or professor with all of the current growth going on around campus and the Athletics Division.

“I am very eager and excited to work with Coach Whittet and Coach Smith and especially the players in our program and I can't wait for the season to get started. Again, the future is very bright at Brown and I hope to assist our coaching staff in making significant contributions to the University and our program".

Prior to his time in Woonsocket, Plante spent six years with the Selects Academy at South Kent School, coaching between the 18U and 16U midget teams. Notably, Plante’s team in 2017-18 captured the USA Hockey Tier I 18U National Championship.

Plante also held assistant positions with the USHL’s Indiana Ice (2011-12), UConn (2003-04, 2006-07), and Wesleyan (2004-06). He also served as head coach at Hebron Academy for four years.

A 2002 graduate of Quinnipiac, Plante was a four-year letterwinner with the Bobcats. Quinnipiac won the 2002 MAAC Championship and reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. Plante was inducted to the Quinnipiac Athletics Hall-of-Fame with the 2001-02 squad.