There is no more important position in the game than the goaltender. Goaltending can win and lose games at the highest level, and having a strong backline can fill a team with confidence and energy.
So far this season, we have focused on the goal scorers and defenders around the country, and today we turn our attention to the cage.
On the men’s side, Caleb Creasor is having a strong season for Marquette. The graduate student from Huntsville, Ontario was particularly strong this past weekend. It’s been a tough stretch for Marquette, who had losses to Notre Dame, Michigan, Bellarmine, Utah and Penn State heading into their game on Saturday against St. Bonaventure.
But Creasor showed up huge for his team against St. Bonaventure, saving 11 shots and only allowing 3 goals. That performance brought his total on the year back to a 50% save percentage. As explained here, Creasor spent the first four years of his college career at Lehigh, but was never able to secure the starting job.
Now, he’s flourishing for the Golden Eagles, who will look to build upon their difficult non-conference schedule as they begin conference play. Creasor had strong efforts as well in their loss to Penn State (18 saves / 13 goals) and Utah (11 saves / 9 goals). He will be huge to whatever success they have this season.
Creasor is joined on Marquette by fellow Canadian Jack Kask (Coquitlam, British Columbia) who has yet to play this season. Joining them around the country are Colgate’s Brody Burrell (Surrey, British Columbia) and Lindenwood’s Oliver Vanyo (St. Catharine’s, Ontario), both of whom are still developing but have seen some action this season.
On the women’s side, five Canadian women have seen substantial action in between the pipes.
Hespeler, Ontario’s Taylor Coughlin is leading the way in terms of minutes played, as she’s started all eight games this season for the Saint Francis Red Flash. She’s made 73 saves in that time, good for a 42% save percentage.
Second in minutes is Jacksonville’s Paige Pagano (Toronto, Ontario), who has played the majority of the minutes for the Dolphins, starting seven of the nine contests. She’s made 49 saves on the year and comes in with a 41% save percentage.
Presbyterian’s Kayleigh Aitken (Oro-Medonte, Ontario) has battled hard this season for the Blue Hose. In just over 276 minutes of action, she’s made 35 saves and sports a 12.59 goals against average. She’s saving the ball at a 37.6% clip.
Kitchener, Ontario native Megan Shepley has played significant time for the Robert Morris Colonials this season, and sports a 44% save percentage, the best of the group.
Lastly, Cassidy Eckert has been solid when called upon for the Oregon Ducks. She has a 9.29 goals against average in just over two hours of time for the Ducks.
Jumping back to the regularly scheduled programming, Louisville’s Nicole Perroni again led the cohort in impact points. She had one of the most impressive games of the entire season on the weekend, scoring 4 goals against North Carolina, to go with 4 ground balls and 3 caused turnovers. That was just two days after a similarly dominant win over Liberty where she contributed 1 goal, 1 assists, 4 ground balls, and a remarkable 5 caused turnovers.
We have been writing it every week, but Perroni is doing it all for the Cardinals.
She was followed in impact points by Guelph, Ontario’s Kassi Hogan, who had 3 goals, 7 caused turnovers, and 7 ground balls for St. Bonaventure.
The other women topping ten impact points per game were Elmira, Ontario’s Maddy Camm at Detroit Mercy, Brooklin’s Brit Colangelo (St. Bonaventure) and Lindenwood’s Alissa Digiacinto. All three of those players have been dominating all season long, and have been featured extensively on this column.
On the men’s side, Mitchell Dunham (Hamilton, Ontario) led all players in impact points with a monster defensive effort for Mount St. Mary’s. He had 2 caused turnovers and 7 ground balls and also added an assist as the Mount finally found their first victory of the season against Wagner.
I also wanted to make special mention of Delaware’s Mike Robinson, who added five goals and an assist in their victory over Hofstra. Playing most of his career alongside Canadians Owen Grant and Tye Kurtz, Robinson has been one of the most prolific Canadians in recent history. Now up to 22 goals in 7 games, the Peterborough native is having another great season.
Other top performers this week included Loyola’s Adam Poitras and Levi Verch from St. Joseph’s. Check out the chart here, to see how every Canadian is doing this season.
Thanks for reading, see you next week.
Jon: I think you have the wrong Liam Ferris. The stats you have are for the Liam Ferris of Binghamton. I’m not sure if St. Joe’s Liam has even played this year.
You are correct. I forgot to remove it from the chart!