By Will Gilson, Currier Times Staff//

What started as speculation earlier in the week on DIII hockey social media posts, became official, as The Currier Times confirmed that Men’s hockey goalie, sophomore Shane Soderwall, is moving on to D1 Clarkson University.

Soderwall told The Currier Times that Division One hockey has been a goal.

“It has always been my dream to play division one hockey, so to receive interest means the world to me,” Soderwall said. “I know Coach [Peter] Roundy and the staff will not have an issue finding the appropriate captains and leadership group for next season.”

Soderwall has won just about every accolade in the book, including the Sid Watson award as the best player in DIII hockey and most recently, the New England Hockey Association Player of the Year. Coach Peter Roundy won the Coach of the Year from the same group.

In Soderwall’s two seasons at Curry he brought the Colonels to new heights with a trip to the Elite Eight last year, and the Frozen Four this year.

Clarkson University has a D1 hockey program, but their other sports are in DIII. They made it to the finals in the ECAC Conference championship, but lost in the auto-bid game to the NCAA Tournament to Cornell.

The Team Reflects on Historic Season

Now that Curry hockey season is over following the men’s team’s Frozen Four 2-1 overtime loss to Utica, the team begins to reflect on their historic season.

Head Coach Peter Roundy, who led the team to the first Frozen Four appearance in program history, says that the team felt good as the game went to overtime.

“Having tied up the game halfway through the third period and playing well after that, we felt confident going into overtime,” Roundy said.

Roundy, who won many awards this season, including the Division III Men’s Coach of the Year Award, said the mood in the locker room in between each period was full of focus and determination.

“We needed to refocus after the second period because Utica put us back on our heels,” Roundy said. “We talked about how we were there for a reason and we needed to get back to our game in an effort to tie the score and continue our season.”

Members on the team also felt the motivational spirit in the locker room. Junior Nicolas Lariviere, a double major in Criminal Justice and Psychology, said the team had each other’s backs after a long fought season.

“Everyone was positive throughout the game, although we were down by one goal at some point, we all believed in each other and knew we would bring it back,” Lariviere said. “It obviously felt pretty good to get the “home team” at the “away site”, being that number 1 seed was just a product of how hard we worked all year.”

Speaking of seeding, Curry had to travel to Utica where the game was hosted despite being the number one seed. Coach Roundy describes the process of hosting a Frozen Four game through an NCAA bidding system in the order of seeding once four teams remain. The NCAA then decides where the games will be held based on seeding. Curry did not bid due to the Canton Ice House size.

“As coaches, there will be lengthy discussion on having predetermined championship sites every year,” Roundy said. “Out of the 90 championships the NCAA puts on every year, only two have non-predetermined sites…men’s and women’s hockey.”

Since Curry didn’t host the game, a fan bus drove students to the game, but broke down on the way, making them late. However, Coach Roundy said the team was unaware, and it didn’t distract them from competing.

“We didn’t know,” Roundy said. “We were focused on playing the game.”

As for the nation’s DIII Player of the Year in hockey, Shane Soderwall said going into overtime was all about keeping his eyes on the prize.

“Nothing really changes when the game goes to overtime,” Soderwall said. “Just trying to go out there and do my job was my focus.”

The Currier Times wishes the Men’s Hockey team well, Shane Soderwall continued success, and coach Peter Roundy and his staff a round of applause for a truly epic run.