During his time at St. Mark’s School in Southboro, Mass., forward Zach Tsekos became known for his excellent hockey IQ.
St. Mark’s head coach Carl Corazzini remembers his team’s playoff game against St. George’s in 2016. Harvard forward Frederic Gregoire was a star for St. George’s, and Tsekos impressed his coach with a smart in-game decision.
"It’s a 2-0 game in the third period and they were kind of stretching Gregoire," Corazzini said. "Zach ended up shadowing Gregoire the rest of the game. A typical high school student would be trying to cherry pick looking for goals."
That maturity is part of the reason Tsekos, now a Sacred Heart sophomore, was key for the Pioneers last season. As a freshman, the 5-foot-10 playmaker totaled four goals and 12 assists in 31 games. Tsekos earned valuable playing time on a team that had talented forwards such as Justin Danforth, Jordan Minello and Evan Jasper.
For those who know Tsekos from his time at St. Mark’s, his first D-1 season should not come as a surprise. The Montreal native led the program to two NEPSAC championships and was named ISL MVP in 2014.
Tsekos credits Corazzini (Framingham, Mass.) for making him the player he is today. "He’s probably one of my favorite coaches I’ve had in my hockey career," Tsekos said.
"He was very relatable to the players, always with us outside of the rink. It kind of developed a kind of sense of familiarity that led to us being a more productive team on the ice and individually helped me grow a lot as a player."
Corazzini says the sky’s the limit for Tsekos, who must step up with Danforth, Minello and Jasper having graduated.
"The thing that Zach is going to be able to figure out now is that sharing the puck isn’t a bad thing," Corazzini said. "Zach is constantly looking for his teammates. But at Sacred Heart they’re going to ask him to score more goals and Zach can certainly do it. I think that’s the thing he’s going to have to try and figure out."
Fully healthy after suffering a torn labrum in the spring, Tsekos said his main goal is putting the Pioneers in a position to win.
"As far as our team is concerned, that’s what’s most important to me," Tsekos said. "For us, our goal is to constantly win an Atlantic Hockey championship."
After leading the country in penaltykill percentage last season and winning the conference tournament, AIR FORCE is poised to be atop the AHA yet again. The Falcons return their top three scorers from last season in Jordan Himley, Kyle Haak and Phil Boje. Losing goaltender Shane Starrett (Bellingham, Mass.) to the pros hurts; veteran head coach Frank Serratore will need sophomore Billy Christopoulos to improve between the pipes. As for new faces, Air Force welcomes 12 freshmen to the team, including forward Shawn Knowlton and defenseman Zack Mirageas (Newburyport, Mass.).
Second-year head coach Eric Lang leads a club that lost only four players to graduation. AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL brings in transfer Ryan Papa from St. Cloud State to provide some much-needed help on offense. Four freshmen led the Yellow Jackets in points last season, and all four return with a full year under their belts. Forwards Blake Christensen, Martin Mellberg, Hugo Reinhardt and Dominik Florian must build on strong freshman campaigns if the Yellow Jackets have any hope of moving up in the conference. Goaltender Zack Skog also returns for his sophomore campaign after posting a .904 save percentage in 24 contests.
ARMY WEST POINT must move on after losing star goaltender Parker Gahagen to graduation. Senior Cole Bruns will have to fight off freshmen Jared Dempsey and Trevin Kozlowski for the right to replace Gahagen. The Black Knights were one of the best defensive teams in the nation last season, propelling them to a third-place finish in the conference. Head coach Brian Riley needs the offense to pick up in response, after a 39th overall ranking in goals per game with 2.70. Luckily for Riley, Army returns its top three goal scorers from a year ago in Brendan Soucie (South Dennis, Mass.), Conor Andrle and Zach Evancho.
BENTLEY head coach and Stoneham, Mass., native Ryan Soderquist saw his team’s winning percentage decline for the third straight season after a disappointing eighth-place finish in the conference. Leading scorer Max French graduated, but forward Kyle Schmidt returns as captain after totaling 33 points. For Bentley to climb, forwards Ryner Gorowsky and Jonathan Desbiens must increase their contributions on the offensive end. The Falcons will rely on goaltenders Jayson Argue and Aidan Pelino, who both saw ample ice time last season. Blueliner Brett Orr is yet another sophomore who should contribute plenty after assisting on 17 goals.
Originally selected to finish ninth in the conference in last season’s preseason coaches poll, CANISIUS became regular-season conference champion and was one of the best defensive teams in Div. 1 hockey. Much of that was due to AHA Player of the Year Charles Williams and AHA Coach of the Year David Smith. Both Williams and Smith are gone now, leaving sophomore netminder Daniel Urbani and new head coach Trevor Large with big shoes to fill. Canisius returns just about everyone else, including forwards Dylan McLaughlin and Ryan Schmelzer, who combined for 63 points last year.
HOLY CROSS stumbled to end last season, winning just one of its final seven contests. Head coach David Berard (West Warwick, R.I.) will appreciate a fresh start for a Crusaders team that was the worst penalty-killing club in the conference. Forwards Danny Lopez and T.J. Moore return to lead the Crusaders’ offense, but they’ll be without Mike Barrett, who graduated after recording 27 points. Senior netminder Paul Berrafato was at the bottom of the AHA in save percentage a year ago. He’ll need to make major improvements for the Crusaders to compete with the conference’s best.
MERCYHURST took a step back last year after putting together a 15-9-4 conference record in 2015-16. The good news for Rick Gotkin’s program is the Lakers return four 20-point-plus scorers in Derek Barach, Jonathan Charbonneau, Lester Lancaster and Joseph Duszak. Named the AHA top D-man, Lancaster will aim to carry a ‘D’ unit that struggled. Brandon Wildung and Colin DeAugustine likely will split time in net after playing in 24 and 20 games, respectively.
New head coach Jason Lammers takes over a NIAGARA squad that was the conference’s worst in both offense and defense. There were some strong individual performances, however. Forward Derian Plouffe returns fully healed from injury after notching eight points in 12 games. Forwards Stanislav Dzakhov and Kris Spriggs aim to power the offense again after combining for 33 points. The Purple Eagles also recruited sophomore defenseman Jared Brandt from Miami University after he blocked 28 shots in 33 games. Blueliner Noah Delmas will anchor the defense after tallying 15 assists as a freshman.
ROBERT MORRIS relied on a highpowered offense to reach the Atlantic Hockey tournament championship game last season. Forward Daniel Leavens graduated after a 49-point season, but Atlantic Hockey scoring champ Brady Ferguson returns for his senior year. Head coach Derek Schooley’s squad features other playmakers such as juniors Alex Tonge and Eric Israel, who led all conference defensemen in points. On the defensive end, the Colonials bring in transfer blueliner Brett Beauvais, who recorded 29 blocked shots last season at Bemidji State. Sophomore Francis Marotte again will lead Robert Morris between the pipes.
It was a rough end to the season for ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, which was upset by 11th-seeded Niagara in the conference tournament. The Tigers lose two 14-pointplus scorers to graduation in Caleb Cameron and Danny Smith, but that won’t stop the offense from humming as it did last year. Head coach Wayne Wilson’s unit averaged 3.23 goals per game in conference, and RIT returns six skaters who reached the 20-point plateau. All eyes will be on Atlantic Hockey Rookie of the Year Adam Brubacher, who recorded a plus-11 rating in conference play.
SACRED HEART lost four of its top five scorers from last season to graduation. That means forwards such as Zach Tsekos, Stephen Hladin and Vito Bavaro will have to step up and generate points with the extra minutes. Blueliner Liam Clare returns to anchor the defense and spark the offense after tallying 21 assists in 37 games his sophomore year. Led by seventh-year head coach and North Haven, Conn., native C.J. Marottolo, the Pioneers excel on the penalty kill, but not much else. Perhaps that will change with so much roster turnover, as the roster includes nine freshmen.
