University of Vermont Athletic Hall of Fame
Randall Koch 1978 - Hockey
Although this outstanding hockey player, and 1989 UVM Hall of Fame inductee, will always be remembered for two goals he scored in a pivotal game in New Hampshire late in 1974-75, his freshman season, Randy Koch's impact on Catamount hockey was much more.
In one of the most exciting - and bizarre - games in the UVM-UNH rivalry, Koch scored with 16 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the game at 3-3 and later popped in the overtime winner. The game took on great significance since the win gave the Catamounts the third seeed and home ice for the ECAC Division I playoffs, UVM's first year in the elite division. Vermont went on the defeat Providence, 7-5, at Gutterson in the opening round of the playoffs and advanced to the 1975 ECAC Championship at Boston Garden. Before one of the largest crowds in ECAC history (and an estimated 3,500 Catamounts fans), UVM lost to the eventual champion, Boston University, in the semifinals. However, the Cats bounced back the next night with a 7-3 win over Cornell in the consolation game.
Koch, only a freshman, was one of the major contributors to UVM's great success in its first year in Division I scoring 21 goals and 13 assists. It was only the beginning of a great individual career at Vermont, as he finished with 73 goals and 93 assists for 166 points, third on UVM's all-time scoring list. Koch averaged 1.29 points-per-game, one of the highest averages in Vermont hockey history. As a sophomore in 1975-76, he led the team in scoring with 55 points on 18 goals and 37 assists. Captain of the team as a senior in 1977-78, he was awarded the team's John C. Cunningham MVP award.
A fifth-round draft choice of the New York Rangers in 1975, he opted to pursue a business career after the Rangers' training camp session ended in 1978. He was active in youth hockey in Vermont for many years.
