The work is never done for Riley Zupfer.

From a young age, the forward from Woodbury knew that he wanted to achieve greatness in the sport of hockey. He’s put in countless hours training both on and off the ice over the years and recently earned a Division I commitment to play college hockey at the University of Notre Dame, but while some players can relax and take a breather once they officially earn their college commitment, Zupfer is doing the opposite. He knows that having the Fighting Irish logo next to his name is a big accomplishment and that it’s a step in the right direction but his current mindset is focused on continuing to improve his game in any way that he possibly can day in and day out, on and off the ice. The hard work doesn’t stop now.

The success that Zupfer is having for Des Moines of the United States Hockey League and his recent Division I commitment aren’t things that came as a surprise to the staff at APX Hockey, who have known the forward and have been a part of his training for about five years now.

"The remarkable attribute that we saw from him, even when he was young, was that he had his whole career mapped out about how far he wanted to take things, how much conviction he had about those very lofty goals, even at a young age, and he had a really professional outlook,” says APX Director of Player Development Wes Jirovec about Zupfer. “He’s just the ultimate young professional.”

Jirovec has known Zupfer since he was about 12 years old. Riley’s older brother Max also trained at APX so then Riley got brought in and eventually starting training with the program too. Funnily enough, Max just graduated from the University of Notre Dame himself after playing four years of ACHA III hockey there, but having family ties to the school isn’t the reason why the 6-foot forward decided to choose the Fighting Irish for his future in the sport.

“Having my brother go there, I’d been there a couple of times and knew what campus was like, it’s a beautiful spot, but I was kind of just open to anything and I was trying to figure out what was truly the best for me and I wasn’t planning on carrying on a family name there if it wasn’t going to be the best fit for me,” Zupfer told APX reporter Sydney Wolf about his mindset on choosing a college hockey program. “I think they did a great job of showing me that it was going to be the correct fit for me and I think that’s just what really settled it in for me was their coaching staff and made me really feel like that was home.”

Zupfer actually had quite a busy college recruiting process as a whole over the calendar past year. He started getting calls from coaches on the very first day that it was allowed. The Woodbury native was in talks with multiple programs from early on in the process but conversations really started to pick up this past summer after he participated in the USA Boys National 17 Festival, for the top athletes in the 2008 birth year, and after the start of the 2025-26 season in the USHL with the Des Moines Buccaneers. He officially announced his commitment to the Fighting Irish on Nov. 30, 2025.

“I am proud and honored to announce my commitment to play Division 1 hockey and continue my education at the University of Notre Dame. Thank you to God, family, coaches, teammates, friends and (my) advisor for all the support. I am grateful to be a part of the Irish family,” he posted to his social media pages.

Academics are also very important to Riley and his family and that was a factor that played a big role in his decision to commit to the university located in South Bend, Indiana. He wished from the start that he would be able to go somewhere that would be able to set up him up with a top-level education.

Overall, it’s been a busy year for Zupfer in 2025 as he finished up his sophomore season of high school hockey this past spring at Hill-Murray, went to USA 17s national camp in the summer, and then joined the Des Moines squad for the 2025-26 season, on top of navigating the college recruiting process at the same time.

Fans who watch Minnesota high school hockey games likely aren’t surprised to hear that Zupfer is now succeeding in the USHL as one of the youngest skaters in the league and is committed to a Division I program after seeing him dazzle on the ice with the Hill-Murray Pioneers over the past three years.

The Woodbury native was brought up to the varsity program at Hill-Murray as just an eighth grader. He earned an honorable 14 points through 20 games played that season with a Pioneers team that made it to the state tournament.

“It was a bit intimidating for sure (joining the varsity roster as just an eighth grader) but my sister’s boyfriend was actually on the team at the time so he was a really good role model for me and just kind of took me under his wing and guided me through the whole process and a lot of other guys did as well,” Zupfer said about transitioning up to the high school level. “It was unbelievable the things they did for me to kind of just be able to focus on playing hockey and playing my best instead of having to worry about all the other stuff.”

The squad in ‘22-23 ultimately fell to eventual state champion Minnetonka in overtime in the Class AA quarterfinals at the state tournament but then bounced back to win the consolation championship a few days later with wins over Lakeville South and Maple Grove. Zupfer says that getting to play at the legendary Minnesota state tournament is something that he’ll never forget but that one of his favorite memories of the season was actually winning the section championship match against Gentry Academy that year.

After a promising first season on varsity, Zupfer then put up a handful of more points in Year 2 with Hill-Murray by scoring 21 points through 27 games played with a Pioneers squad that went 17-9-2, ultimately falling in the section final game to White Bear Lake. He said that playing with the linemates that he had that year was a big thing for his point production and his development and that they were all heavily relied on to produce offense and generate scoring chances for the team so he stepped into a much bigger role as a freshman in ‘23-24.

This past season as a sophomore, Zupfer exploded for a whopping 57 points in 28 games for a highly talented Pioneers squad that had one of the most dangerous lines in the entire state with himself, Bode Sampair - who was a candidate for the Mr. Hockey award in 2025, and another top APX athlete in Chaz Lentz. They had great chemistry together and became the top three scorers on the Hill roster in ‘24-25.

“That breakthough (of success in his sophomore season) was kind of a culmination of gaining some physical maturity and then having a good response ready for it, where he has always been such a diligent off-ice guy with workouts, and then kind of just putting some things together,” added Jirovec about what he has seen from Zupfer over the years. “He’s always been a player of really, really high processing. His adaptability and playmaking and likewise about how sharp he is problem-solving as a defender and how he is in the trenches, that’s been there forever, so he has just always been nurturing that growth. From a mentality standpoint, his IQ on the ice has always been so sharp.”

After the ‘24-25 season ended in a heartbreaking overtime loss in the section final to Stillwater, Zupfer originally thought that he would return to the Pioneers for his junior year in the fall of 2025.

“Initially, the plan was to do before and after (the high school season in the USHL), and it was kind of set, but it got to the point where I was playing good hockey and playing very good minutes and the staff here was unbelievable so my family spent about two weeks of just countless nights trying to figure it out,” he said about the tough choice of whether to stay in juniors or return to high school hockey. “It wasn’t an easy decision for us at all but I just felt like here was the best place for my growth and for my game to be at and to get pushed every single day in practice and every game is a challenge. It just felt like the right spot.”

Zupfer added that his first few games in the USHL certainly were a bit tough adjusting to the level of physicality and the faster pace of play but that he enjoyed the challenge and did well in making adjustments to get caught up to speed. After the first few weeks he felt much more settled in to the style of play and now in early December is top three on the entire roster in overall scoring with 15 points through 23 games played - all while being the second youngest skater on the team.

“His professionalism and day to day habits and being organized about his itinerary when he wakes up in the morning and being really sharp on managing bumps in the road and taking advantage of his support systems, whether that’s film or feedback with the coaches and meetings and how he talks with his linemates - that’s why he was always the perfect build to make that jump (up to the level of junior hockey),” added Jirovec. “It’s going to continue to be a really exciting year for him in Des Moines.”

Des Moines is currently in a bit of a skid in late November/early December with losing five of their last six games but Zupfer says that the team is getting back on track right now to playing Buccaneer hockey which is hard, fast and relentless. In the long run, the Woodbury native sees more success coming for his team once they can get out of their current funk and break their losing streak, which he hopes will be broken this weekend in their upcoming games against Sioux City and Waterloo. Currently, Des Moines is tied for fourth in the Western Conference standings with Tri-City.

For any Notre Dame fans who haven’t yet been able to watch Zupfer play in a game, he describes himself as a smart hockey player who is able to make the players around him look better and he is hard on pucks and good on the forecheck.

Zupfer will continue to play with the Buccaneers for the ‘25-26 season and will eventually head out to South Bend, Indiana, for his college hockey future where he is considering majoring in something like business. The hard work doesn’t stop now and Zupfer’s promising future in hockey is just getting started.

RELATED STORIES: