MITCHELL HORUCY
Asst. Sports Editor
For 93% of high school athletes, their athletic career comes to an end after graduation.
However, Fredonia’s club hockey team offers students the opportunity to compete at a high level, despite not being a varsity sport.
“There’s so many levels to hockey; club is a level for players who don’t want to play in college or higher levels,” said senior forward Kyle Jarosz.
Junior Adam Polito called the team a brotherhood when asked about the importance of having the opportunity to play club hockey.
He also added that it gives people something to do in their free time.
Despite it not being an official NCAA sport, there’s no lack of competitiveness or effort on the ice.
Captain and leading point-scorer Nate Kernan mentioned how that’s just how you have to play hockey.
“You can’t play if you’re not gonna give it your all,” he said. “Hockey is intense.”
Kernan took over the position of captain after the previous captain graduated.
“It means a lot. I love it, I love leading the boys,” said Kernan.
After having only eight points last season, Fredonia currently sits in first place of the Division Two West, a division in the Upstate New York Club Hockey League (UNYCHL).
Jarosz, Polito and Kernan said coaching, wanting to win and more focus in practice were some of the things responsible for the turnaround.
“Everyone who wants to win has a voice, which wasn’t the case when I first got here,” said Jarosz.
Kernan also said the leadership and the desire to win trickles down to everyone.
The two mentioned how this is their third year playing alongside each other.
That comes with no surprise as Kernan, Polito and Jarosz are the team’s three leading scorers.
Last year, the team was able to qualify for the National Championship hosted by AAU hockey in West Chester, P.A.
They had the opportunity to play schools from all around the country, including Clemson.
“It was a great experience for the whole team, getting to see schools from all around the country,” said Polito.
“The physicality is way more at Nationals, teams are bigger and faster.”
Earlier in the season, the team got a chance to play Niagara at Riverworks in Buffalo. Riverworks is a state-of-the-art, multipurpose facility built in 2014, equipped with two outdoor hockey rinks.
Kernan was the mastermind behind the game as he reached out to Niagara’s team and Riverworks.
All three players said they enjoyed the experience.
Players also wore eye black due to it being an outdoor game to add to the fun.
In a recent matchup, they defeated I-90 rival Brockport with a final score of 5-4.
This game had huge stakes, with a trip to Nationals on the line.
The Blue Devils were also trying to avenge a 3-0 loss at the hands of the Golden Eagles in the opening game of the season.
“I played in high school with four kids on the team,” said Polito.
“I’ve played them four times since I’ve been here. It’s always a good game,” added Kernan.
After a back and forth game, Kernan scored on a penalty shot after a Brockport penalty in the third period to take a 5-4 lead.
The team was able to hold onto the lead and secure the big win.
As they’ve done all year, Fredonia’s goaltending stood tall when needed.
The team has rotated mainly between two goalies, Ethan Hayden and Ryan Albert.
Albert has started eight games, and Hayden has started nine.
“We have two goalies who we can trust, they stand on their heads every game,” said Jarosz.
Albert holds a 6-2-0 record with a .889 save percentage and 3.11 goals allowed per game.
Hayden has also been solid with a 5-4-0 record, posting a .888 save percentage and allowing 3.23 goals per game.
“They’re battling with each other to start the next playoff game or the next big game,” said Kernan. “That’s just gonna make each other better, and our team better.” With the season winding down, anyone interested in playing next year can reach out to the team by emailing Kernan at kern5063@fredonia.edu or contacting the team’s Instagram, @Fredoniaclubhockey.