With a 19 game unbeaten streak, an ECAC West Regular Season title
and an appearance in the ECAC West Championship game as well as the
NCAA Final Four, the 2007-08 season truly showed that the Elmira
College Men’s Ice Hockey program had established itself
as one of the top programs in the nation. With the guidance of
seven year head coach
Tim Ceglarski who achieved not only his 100th
career coaching win, but was also named ECAC West Coach of the Year
the Soaring Eagles were truly primed for greatness this past
season.
Helping to achieve such a phenomenal season were three individuals
that eventually garnered one of the top prizes an individual can
achieve in his career at the collegiate level, a place on the RBK
All-American team. This season marked the only the second time in
program history that three players earned All-American recognition,
and was the first time since
Lawne Snyder ’04 that any player
received this prestigious honor.
Fourth year Captain
Michael Richard ’08 (LaSalle, QC -- Gloucester
Rangers) capped off an amazing career by once again
leading his team in both assists and points.
Richard’s leadership on and off the
ice helped the Soaring Eagles battle past some of the toughest
opponents in Division III Men’s Hockey. For his efforts
throughout the year,
Richard was named ECAC West Co-Player of the Year
as well as earning First Team All-Conference honors. At the NCAA
Final Four,
Richard was also named to the RBK All-American
First Team, as well as finishing out the year as one of the top
assists men in the nation.
Richard will forever leave a lasting mark on the
Soaring Eagles program having achieved his 100th career point in
the middle of the season becoming the 46th player to achieve that
mark.
Earning Second Team All-American recognition was third year
defenseman
Nicolas Dumoulin ’08 (Prevost, QC -- St. Jerome
Panthers).
Dumoulin who will be ending his career at Elmira a
season early once again found himself in a place to dominate the
ice both defensively and offensively. Along with the All-American
recognition, came a ECAC West First Team All-Conference honor which
was his third consecutive. His ability to find the back of the
opponent’s cage on power-play situations also made him
the team’s top power-play goal scorer. Nationally,
Dumoulin ranked amongst some of the top defensive
scorers having scored 12 goals with 18 assists in 28 games played.
Defensively
Russell Smith ’08 (Annapolis, MD -- Lowell
Lockmonsters) closed out his four year career with Elmira
as the team’s top defensive scorer. His ability to
distribute the puck throughout the year made him one of the top go
to players both on and off the power-play. Combined with his size,
Smith proved to be one of the most versatile and
dominant defensive players to every play for the Soaring Eagles.
Forwards
Andrew Bedford ’08 (Mississauga, ONT --
Mississauga Chargers) and
Ryan Arnone ’08 (Colchester, CT -- Norwich Ice
Breakers) helped guide this solid group of veterans and
rookies to one of the most memorable seasons in recent years. As
two of the most versatile players on the ice,
Bedford and
Arnone were able to shut down the
opposition’s advances as well as starting key counter
attacks that became infamous throughout the hockey world. In total
the two combined for 12 goals and 9 assists on the year and will
leave EC with over 196 games played under their belts respectively.
Graduating early with
Dumoulin will be forward
Derrick Ryan ’08 (Fournier, ONT -- Ottawa Jr.
Senators) who time and time again used his size and
strength to dominate any opponent that skated in his path. Even
with an injury in the beginning of the season that kept him off the
ice for nearly three months,
Ryan returned to the Soaring Eagles line-up with a
vengeance and could be found mixing it up with some of the toughest
defensemen.
Second year goaltender
Casey Tuttle ’10 (Chelsea, ME -- Portland Jr.
Pirates) continued to show tremendous improvement from his
rookie season. His growth as a player eventually earned him a place
on both the ECAC West All-Conference Second Team as well as earning
his first Second Team All-American honor as well. Currently tied
for second for most shutouts in a season with 3,
Tuttle is now ranked first all-time for saves
percentage in a season and goals against average in a career. He
also ended out the year in the top ten in the nation in both save
percentage and goals against average, and garnered a place on the
ECAC West Second Team All-Conference alongside Smith.
When it comes to national statistics second year forward
Rusty Masters ’10 (Grafton, ONT -- Port Hope
Predators) ended out the season as the top game winning
goal scorer in all of Division III Men’s Ice Hockey
scoring the clutch goal on 7 different occasions throughout the
2007-08 season.
Masters also finished out the year as the
team’s top goal scorer with 22 marks on the year as
well as 12 assists. His six power-play goals placed him second on
the team in that category. For his efforts he once again earned
ECAC West Conference Recognition, this time earning a place on the
Second Team.
Masters’ ability to be in the key
places not only made him one of the most dangerous players this
season, but will continue to make him a standout player throughout
the remainder of his career at Elmira.
With so much poise and skill shown through the year, next season is
already set to be another amazing year for the Elmira College
Men’s Ice Hockey team. Coach Ceglarski as well as the
rest of the team will return next season knowing that they have all
the tools they need to make another late run into March, where they
will once again find themselves in contention for a National title.