SRU roller hockey headed to nationals
SLIPPERY ROCK — For the Slippery Rock University roller hockey program, getting to nationals is twice as nice.
The Rock’s Division II and Class AA teams both won the East Coast Roller Hockey Association (ECRHA) championship games recently to punch their tickets to the Collegiate Roller Hockey Nationals, slated April 17-22 in Auburn, Maine.
The Division II team, is 25-4 overall this season, defeating Neumann, 6-5, in overtime of the title game. The AA team was 9-7 in the regular season before getting hot in the playoffs, defeating the University of Massachusetts, 3-2, in the tourney finale.
Butler graduates Cade Wheeler and Price McDonald, both juniors, play on The Rock’s Division II team.
“Our team chemistry does it for us,” Wheeler said, as SRU’s Division II team is headed to nationals for the third straight year. We’ve found success together, with a good mix of new guys and guys who were here last year.“
SRU finished second at nationals in 2022 and third last year.
“We’re a group of guys from Western Pennsylvania who love playing the game and we’ve meshed together like a family,” McDonald said. “We’ll be playing against teams that bring in guys from all across the country.
“That will be a big challenge for us, but we really believe we can win it.”
Tyler Lesack scored the winning goal in overtime against Neumann. Goaltender Alec Thomas was among the best in the ECRHA, leading the league with 17 wins, ranking second with 409 saves, fourth with a 2.89 goals against average and an .874 save percentage.
Wheeler scored six goals and added five assists during the ECRHA tournament while McDonald had four goals and an assist.
The team played much of this season without a coach.
“We had one for the first half of the season, but he wasn’t able to commit to coming to practices or games after that, so we went without one. We make decisions together now and it’s worked out so far.”
Slippery Rock’s Luke Jordan ranked among the league’s top scorers this season with 41 goals and 59 points.
“We’re proud of being a local team and representing our region,” McDonald said.
Butler graduates Aiden Wagner and Mason Senopole play for SRU’s AA team. Wagner is in his first year with the team, which is coached by Robert Sloan.
“I’m a transfer from La Roche and we didn’t have a hockey team there,” Wagner said. “I’m just thankful I discovered they had a team at Slippery Rock. I missed hockey so much.
“It took us a while to come together, but we got it rolling just in time for the playoffs. We just decided to be more relentless, to go hard every game,. That attitude and a strong defense has worked for us.”
Wagner added that “our job is not done.”
Like the Division II team, SRU’s AA unit will be going up against teams with a much larger recruiting base and budget.
“Lindenwood has an operating budget of $250,000,” Wagner said. “We do our own funding. That’s what we’re up against. But we’ll be ready.”
While Wagner is a junior, Senopole is a sophomore. He’s been playing hokey since second grade.
He’s scored approximately eight goals as a forward this season.
“We all put our heads together and just grinded as a team a lot more,” Senopole said of the team’s turnaround. “We’ll be playing a team with one or two kids from Brazil. But we feel like we can hang with any team we play.
“It’s fun playing games against people from all over the world ... challenging, but fun. We have enough confidence in each other to get this done.”
