Jr. Blues Alumni Report – Nov. 20th, 2019

Nov 20, 2019

Springfield, Illinois – The Springfield Jr. Blues are in our 27th season in the North American Hockey League (NAHL) and have successfully moved over 350 players onto NCAA hockey. Even more so we have moved nearly 150 players onto professional hockey either here in the United States or overseas. 

Here is this week’s Alumni Report!

While we have a plethora of phenomenal goaltenders currently playing in the NCAA and beyond this season, today we spotlight skaters who have made significant contributions to their teams this past weekend. We begin in the WCHA as forward Coale Norris had a big Friday as he helped his Ferris State Bulldogs take down Bemidji State and in the process earned Honorable Mention for Forward of the Week. The junior from Oxford, MI scored twice, including the game winning goal in a 2-1 victory and now has 4 goals and 1 assist on the season. The goal was Norris’ second game winning goal this season.

Moving east, Patrick Curry had another stellar performance for the Boston University Terriers en route to earning HockeyEast Top Performer honors. On Friday the senior from Schaumburg, IL scored a goal and added an assist in a 4-3 win over UMASS, and then added another assist on Saturday. In 11 games played this season Curry has 13 points (8 goals and 5 assists), halfway to matching his total of 26 points (13 goals, 13 assists) in 36 games played last season. 

Sticking in Division I, we turn our attention to Sacred Heart University and forward Todd Goehring. The native of Wayside, NJ scored a goal and added an assist in the Pioneers 9-5 drubbing of RIT on Friday night. The sophomore now has 1 goal and 3 assists on the season after posting 4 goals and 4 assists last year. 

Now we take a look at Division III hockey, covering a few firsts and a couple big weekends. We start at Buffalo State University as freshman forward Nikita Kozyrev recorded his first two career NCAA points on Friday night. The Tallinn, Estonia native scored his first goal and had his first assist in a 6-3 victory over Potsdam. Last season Kozyrev scored 20 goals and had 25 assists for the Jr. Blues, setting a career best for points in a season.

Cade Groton is playing for Hamilton University this season and the freshman from Ashburn, VA scored his first career NCAA point in a 2-0 win on Saturday. The assist came on the insurance goal for the Continentals as they defeated Bryn Athyn. In his only season with the Jr. Blues, Groton had 3 goals, 10 assists, and 121 penalty minutes in 48 games played. 

Moving to the Midwest we look at Saint Mary’s as senior defenseman Kyle Meeh went on a tear this past weekend. Meeh, a native of St. Louis, MO, earned MIAC Men’s Hockey Athlete of the Week honors after putting up a 4 point performance in the Cardinals weekend sweep of Concordia. Meeh had 2 assists in a 3-2 win on Friday, which included assisting on the game winning goal with :1 left in overtime, and then scored 2 goals on Saturday in a 5-0 victory. He now has 3 goals and 2 assists in 3 games played. 

Luke Radetic, a sophomore at the University of St. Thomas, scored 2 goals of his own on Saturday night in a 9-3 rout of St. Olaf. The Chesterfield, MO native now has 3 goals and 2 assists in 6 games this season. Last year as a freshman Radetic had 14 goals and 9 assists for the Tommies in 26 games. 

And our final spotlight this week is in the AHL as we recognize Lester Lancaster, again. Les signed a PTO (Professional Try Out) with the Iowa Wild this past Thursday after taking the ECHL by storm. While Les has yet to suit up in a game for the Wild, his time with the Allen Americans put him in perfect position for a promotion. In 12 games played in the ECHL, Lancaster had 1 goal and 12 assists to lead ALL defenseman. He will look to continue his momentum with Iowa going forward. 

Alumni Highlights: