Dear Editor,
The Oswego State Men’s ACHA Division 1 hockey team ended its 2012-2013 season last month. This successful season could not have happened without the financial support of the Student Association of Oswego State University, Damn Good T-Shirts, Tavern on the Lock Restaurant and Bags for Sports.
We would like to thank the rink maintenance staff at the Campus Center Arena for their assistance during our practices and for their support during our games. They are true fans of our program. A big thank you also goes out to the community of Oswego and to our parents.
Our team has a great support staff and we could not survive without their help: Ron Chmiel who announced all of our home games; Dan Eye, from WTOP, who webcasts our games live through our website; Nick Wojton, who called the games live and wrote articles about the team for The Oswegonian; Brittany Hoffman, from WTOP, who interviewed the team to promote our “Pink the Rink Weekend”; and Karl Backhaus, who is the team photographer.
We had a great season. We held our first “Pink the Rink Weekend” and raised $1,200 for the new Upstate Cancer Center. Our custom made pink jerseys were designed by former Laker Chris Cavanaugh and two of the jerseys were raffled off for the Cancer Center. We qualified, as we have done every year for the past eight, for the NECHL playoffs and made it to the semifinals before being defeated by eventual champions Buffalo. The team finished fourth in the league, behind nationally ranked Niagara University, University at Buffalo and Syracuse University. Our league is expanding next year to 11 teams. With the addition of Canisius, the NECHL will be the largest league in the nation in ACHA Division 1.
Our goaltender, Aaron Frohm, was named the NECHL Player of the Year and our coach, Jay Peacock, was voted Coach of the Year. We have eight Academic All-Americans on the team and one Academic All-League. We are most proud of the fact that our team has a 100 percent graduation rate, which we have maintained for the past 8 years.
It is very hard to say goodbye to our nine graduating seniors, but we know that they will be successful in their chosen careers. We will miss Frohm, Mike Renick, Greg Molfese, Justin Smith, Matt Potzreba, Brian Tosti, Ryan Grant, Chris MacRae and James Hollowell and wish them the best.
We would also like to congratulate our fellow Laker hockey players on the NCAA Division III team for their successful season and wish their 14 seniors the best in their futures.
Our future looks very bright. We have had many inquires about our program from prospective players. Of those inquiries, 24 have been accepted to Oswego State so far. Although we will miss our seniors, we are looking toward the future with great anticipation.
Sincerely,
Jay Peacock, Head Coach
Adam Webster, Assistant Coach
Bruce Zellar, Faculty Advisor
The 2012-2013 Oswego State Men’s ACHA
Division 1 Hockey Team
