Six Warriors named all-conference selections

By Aaron Schneider

FOREST CITY – Six Waldorf College hockey players were named all-conference selections by the Northern Collegiate Hockey League (NCHL) and four others were landed on the NCHL All-Rookie Team.

Defenders Jeffrey Bartel and Artem Savelyev earned second-team all-conference honors.

Bartel is currently third on the team with 27 points this season. The sophomore from Steinbach, Manitoba tallied 16 goals and 11 assists.

Savelyev, a junior from Tver, Russia, turned in 24 points off five goals and 19 assists.

Senior Christian Weber, junior Alex Fleming, sophomores Drew Soderberg and Ronald Paulson garnered all-conference honorable mention recognition.

Weber and Fleming are tied for third on the team with 27 points apiece. Weber, a Charles City native, notched 15 goals and contributed 12 assists on the season. Fleming, Orion, Illinois native, provided 8 goals and 19 assists.

Soderberg, a Spiritwood, Saskatchewan native, registered eight goals and 16 assists to record 24 points on the season.

Paulson faced 700 shots during the season and racked up 635 saves while recording a .907 save percentage and a 2.21 goals allowed average (GAA). The Wainwright, Alberta native recorded five shutouts throughout the season.

Buddy Napier was named to the all-rookie first team. The sophomore from West St. Paul, Minnesota, connected on 11 goals and 11 assists for 22 points.

Ryan Veillet, Robert Danyo and Rodney Engstrom were received all-rookie honorable mention status.

Veillet is second for Waldorf with 28 points as the freshman from Langley, British Columbia contributed 13 goals and 15 assists on the season.

Danyo, a freshman from Trenton, Michigan, totaled 17 points off six goals and 11 assists for the Warriors.

Engstrom, a freshman out of Fairmont, Minnesota, scored five points off two goals and three assists throughout the year.

Waldorf (20-14) currently sits No. 10 in the latest American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA) Division II Central Region poll. The Warriors concluded the regular season with a 9-5 conference record to earn the No. 3 seed and a pairing with St. Mary’s University (5-18) in last Friday’s NCHL Tournament quarterfinal. Following a 3-0 win over the Cardinals, the Warriors advanced to Saturday’s semifinal against No. 7 Robert Morris (25-10) in what was a rematch of last season’s NCHL Tournament championship. The Eagles pulled out a 2-1 victory against the Warriors and went on to claim a 4-2 win over No. 12 University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh (19-5) in Sunday’s conference championship. The Warriors currently wait to see if they will receive a bid to the ACHA Division II Central Regional Tournament, scheduled for Feb. 27-28 in Rolling Meadows, Illinois.