Canadians in the NCAA: A Look at DII

You asked for it, we delivered. 

This week, I began the process of adding Division II statistics to the Canadians in the NCAA weekly column. Because this process took a while, I only have data for the men available this week. Expect a breakdown from the women’s side of the ledger next week. 

I should note that I am still working on some of the details of the code, and there are some issues with duplicate names from the same team. If you notice a player missing from the data, please let me know. 

Division II participation amongst Canadians remains extremely strong. Currently, 256 men are competing across the roughly 77 Division II men’s programs. 

What should be most exciting for Canadian fans is the geographic distribution of the players. While Ontario leads Division I participation by a significant margin, it is a more balanced picture in the second division. 

Ontario still does have the edge with 85 players nationally, but they are followed by Alberta which has a whopping 73 players. BC has a strong showing as well, with 70 players. 

But it doesn’t stop there, an amazing 17 players from the state of Saskatchewan are competing in the NCAA. Keep in mind that there are currently no Division I players from the Land of Living Skies. 

Manitoba has six players, Quebec has three, and New Brunswick has two more. The growth of the NCAA participation from these states is encouraging. 

Fans of the Canadian game should pay attention to the Newberry Wolves, who have a whopping 18 Canadians and the Tusculum Pioneers, who have 17 by my count. Keep in mind that those numbers are enough to field a full box lacrosse team on either team. 

At the top of the scoring charts nationally, Canadians currently sit in 1st, 2nd, 5th, 6th, 15th, 17th, and 19th. 

Whitby’s Scott Reed has 70 points to lead the nation at the time of this writing. He competes for the Newberry Wolves and is shooting an absurd 63%. To call that absurd is not even quite doing it justice. The general line for shooting success is 30%. Above that mark is efficient, below is troubling. 

Reed has 50 goals on 79 shots this year. The only other Canadian with more than 50 is North Vancouver’s Jaden Sealey, who has taken 148 shots (35%). That’s still efficient! But Reed is on another planet. 

Between Sealey and Scott is Eric Dozzi (Coquitlam, BC) who plays for the Chowan Hawks. Dozzi leads all Canucks in assists right now with 30 on the year. 

Rounding out the top 20 nationally in scoring is Greg Palmer (Holland Landing, Ontario), Zach Thompson (Ottawa, Ontario), and Trevayne Hunter (Aldergrove, British Columbia).

On the defensive side of the ball, Ries Bower (Lethbridge, Alberta) has an incredible 37 Caused Turnovers in just 8 games. Ben Soenen (New Westminster, British Columbia) has 31 for Young Harris to go along with 62 loose balls. 

Five goaltenders have started all or the vast majority of their games. The best save percentage of the bunch belongs to Cole George (Bowmanville, Ontario), of the Post Eagles, who has saved 57% of his shots. 

North Greenville’s Austin Jones (Courtice, Ontario), Belmont Abbey’s Angus Snow (Victoria, British Columbia), Lander Bearcats Nicholas Paige (Calgary, Alberta), and Lincoln Memorial’s Cole George are the other keepers starting for their team. 

I have updated the stats landing page to include the rest of the Division II stats. But for now, you can view it below. 

And find the updated list of division I scoring for both mens and womens here.