University of Vermont Athletics

John S. Kiely 1974 - Hockey, Soccer

It says something when you are named the most valuable player for your hockey team during a season when the school sets a record for most wins, captures the division title, is invited to a national tournament and has three players named to the All-America team...and you're not one of them. Obviously, John Kiely's achievements - and contributions - did not go unnoticed by his teammates as the senior goalie was named MVP of the 1973-74 team went 28-5. A 1991, UVM Hall of Fame indctee, he also was named MVP in the ECAC Division II championship game, a 6-2 win over Merrimack before a rousing, overflow crowd at Gutterson Fieldhouse.

On a team that included All-Americans (and UVM Hall of Famers) Willie MacKinnon, Ted Castle and Tim O'Connell - and 1985 Athletic Hall of Fame inductee Roger Mallette - Kiely was the mainstay of the squad compiling record-setting numbers. He set a UVM record for lowest goals against average, leading the Cats to a 28-5 record (18-1 in Division II), the ECAC Division II title and a trip to the first-ever National Hockey Invitational Tournament in Duluth, Minn. Kiely's 2.64/2.32 (overall/Division II) goals-against-average is one of the best compiled at Vermont. He also had an impressive save average (.909) his senior year, .903 for his career. Kiely's 2.76-career GAA is the best in UVM history.

Overshadowed by Hall of Famer Steve Eckerson ('73) his sophomore and junior seasons, Kiely finally received a chance to strut his stuff his senior year. His senior year (1973-73) was UVM's last in Division II, moving to Division I the next season. In 1973-74, UVM became the first Division II team to be nationally ranked (No. 6 in the nation throughout much of January).

In addition to hockey, Kiely was a goalie (as was his brother Jim '77) on the varsity soccer team that compiled a 10-2 record and won the Yankee Conference Championship. As a freshman, Kiely was the team's goalie and stopped three out of three penalty kicks and actually played one game as a forward and tallied a goal.

After his career at UVM, Kiely signed a three-year contract with the Cincinnati Stingers of the World Hockey Association, playing with the Syracuse (N.Y.) Blazers of the North Hampton Gulls (the Stingers' top farm club) and the parent club in the WHA.