GENEVA, N.Y. — Wherever and whenever Nick DeCroo hits the ice, goals are sure to follow.

The Sarver resident and 2005 Freeport graduate — who scored 47 goals as a freshman on the Yellowjackets varsity hockey team — is now a junior winger at Hobart College, a Division IIIprogram.

DeCroo left Freeport's team after that freshman year to play three years of amateur hockey with the Pittsburgh Hornets.

"It was a tough decision because I had fun playing high school hockey and we had a pretty good team,"DeCroo said. "But if I was serious about taking hockey as far as I could, it was something I had to do."

It was during that freshman season at Freeport that DeCroo discovered he had a chance to go far in the sport.

"Some coaches saw me play and recommended I try out for the Hornets,"he said. "I had a great tryout and made the team quite easily. I played a few games with them and the team wound up second at nationals.

"I wasn't sure what was going on back then, but I was convinced I could play at another level."

DeCroo wound up enjoying two 30-goal seasons and a 50-goal campaign in three years with the Hornets. He then played one season with the Boston Junior Bruins, scored 35 points in 30 games, and enrolled at Bentley College, a Boston-based school that plays Division I hockey.

Coming off a knee injury with the Junior Bruins, DeCroo scored just two goals and had three assists in 22 games at Bentley.

"I damaged some tendons in my meniscus right at the end of my season with the Bruins,"DeCroo said. "I wanted to play Division I hockey, but most schools backed off me once I got hurt.

"Bentley gave me a chance, but things never felt right there. I felt I had to make a move if I was to give myself a real chance at playing at the next level."

That move was to Hobart.

The Statesmen reached the NCAADivision IIIFinal Four three years ago and won the national championship two years before that.

This year, Hobart is 18-5-2 overall and ranked No. 5 nationally in Division III. After scoring 15 goals and 22 points for the Statesmen last year, DeCroo has a team-leading 19 goals and nine assists so far this year.

"Nick has been a big part of our success," ninth-year coach Mark Taylor said. "He's a big, strong kid, a well-rounded hockey player with a lot of up-side."

The 6-foot-3, 220-pound DeCroo has scored six power play goals, three shorthanded tallies and four game-winning goals so far this season.

"He reminds me a lot of Cam Neely,"Taylor said, making reference to the former Boston Bruin power forward. "He plays that type of game."

"I'm physical when I have to be,"DeCroo said. "I use my size for leverage more than anything else. I know how to put myself in position to score, but I'm not afraid to deliver a hit, either."

DeCroo has been a hit in and out of the classroom. He is carrying a 3.6 grade point average as an economics major.

After finishing out his career at Hobart and attaining his degree, DeCroo plans on giving professional hockey a try.

Hobart played four games in Europe against pro teams over there. DeCroo accumulated nine points in those four games.

"I know I can play over there," DeCroo said. "It's an option I'll definitely look at. The ECHL (East Coast Hockey League) and AHL (American Hockey League) are other possibilities."

Taylor is convinced DeCroo can succeed in the pro ranks.

"He's got the size and the skill,"the coach said. "The skating ability is there, too, and Nick is a very knowledgeable player. He has a tremendous understanding of the game.

"Someone in the minor leagues will give him an opportunity."

In the meantime, there's work to be done at Hobart.

"We want to go to the NCAA's and win it,"Taylor said.

"It can happen,"DeCroo said. "Winning always comes first."