Robert Morris University graduate Logan Bittle (Class of '08) is in his 10th season coaching the women's ice hockey team and sixth as associate head coach. Bittle has served under head coach Paul Colontino for the past nine years, which have established the program as one of the most successful at RMU.
Since the start of the 2016-17 season, the Colonials have had one of the best records in Division I college hockey, going 61-27-16 overall and 42-10-8 in College Hockey America play, the latter of which is good for a .767 points percentage. With Bittle behind the bench, RMU has claimed three consecutive CHA regular-season titles and two CHA tournament titles -- in 2012 and '17.
The latter of those postseason championships also clinched the Colonials' first NCAA tournament appearance, in which No. 8-seeded RMU challenged No. 1 Wisconsin in a quarterfinal matchup in Madison. That NCAA berth marks the closest an RMU team has ever gotten to winning a Division I national championship, as the team was three wins away from the ultimate prize.
Twice under Bittle, the Colonials have put up 24 wins in a season: 2013-14 and again in the banner year of 2016-17. RMU has had a losing record only twice in his 10 years on staff -- his first season of 2010-11 and also in 2014-15, when the team rallied late in the year to finish at .500 in CHA play.
Bittle helped the Colonials become a national figure in collegiate women’s hockey in 2013-14, as Robert Morris finished the season at 24-8-3 and 13-5-2 in CHA play. The Colonials spent 13 consecutive weeks ranked in the Top 10 of the United States College Hockey Online (USCHO) and USA Today / USA Hockey Magazine polls and earned a first-round bye in the CHA Tournament.
In 2012-13, Bittle assisted in RMU’s 15-15-3 season, marking the second straight campaign that the Colonials won 15 or more games. RMU went 3-2-1 against nationally-ranked opponents in the 2012-13 regular season, which included a two-game sweep of No. 4/5 Mercyhurst in December. The Colonials also advanced in the CHA postseason for the fourth straight year.
In his second year as an assistant coach for RMU, Bittle helped guide the Colonials to their most successful year in program history. From the bench, Bittle assisted Colontino in leading the Colonials to their first-ever CHA Tournament Championship. In Bittle’s second year, RMU also gained their first two victories over nationally ranked Mercyhurst, breaking the Lakers’ 28-game conference unbeaten streak.
During the 2011-12 campaign with the aid of Bittle, the Colonials broke the program record for wins in a season (19), an outstanding 13-win improvement from last season and shattering the previous record of 12. RMU also broke the single-season program record for both overall goals and goals per game along with the records for assists, points and shots on goal.
In his first year on the bench for the Colonials, Bittle helped the squad advance to the CHA Semifinals for the second-consecutive season and establish a new program-record unbeaten streak all while navigating a highly-demanding schedule--RMU played 15 games against teams that finished the year ranked or receiving votes nationally.
Bittle was a member of the RMU men's inaugural team in 2004-05 and played four years for the Colonials. At the time of his hire, Bittle ranked sixth in all-time games played (126) for the Colonials, sat tenth in career points (52) and was tied for eighth in career goals (20). He played a part in the development of the men's hockey program at Robert Morris, helping it progress from its earliest stages -- the school's first team won eight games his freshman year, but nearly doubled that total by collecting 15 victories during Bittle's senior season.
He has the distinction of assisting on the first-ever game-winning goal in Colonial men's hockey history, notching a third period helper to push RMU past Canisius Oct. 22, 2004, in its initial game in NCAA competition. Bittle graduated from Robert Morris in the spring of 2008 with a degree in sport management.
After graduation, Bittle continued his hockey career in the professional ranks. He played for both the Dayton Bombers of the ECHL and the New Jersey Rockhoppers of the Eastern Professional Hockey League (EPHL).
