sailor . com Lake Conference Hockey • Thursday , December 12 , 2024 Page 9
WAYZATA TROJANS BOYS HOCKEY
Experience on defense , potential on offense
JOHN SHERMAN john . sherman @ apgecm . com
Wayzata , the runner-up team to state Class AA champion Edina in Section 6 last season , graduated some of the best forwards in school history , including Brittan Alstead , Cade De St . Hubert , Brooks Gengler , Jake Mattson , Luke Miller and Rhys Wallin . Those were the six leading scorers on the Trojans varsity . Mattson topped the charts with 51 points on 23 goals and 28 assists . And the six
players combined to score 109 goals .
The top returning goal scorer , junior forward and associate captain Eli Molde , had eight goals and nine assists for 17 points last season . Senior defensemen Finn De St . Hubert and Carson Clark didn ’ t have a lot of goals last year but were heavily involved in the playmaking . Finn De St . Hubert had one goal and 23 assists , while Clark produced three goals and 20 assists . Senior forward Max Luedtke played in
1 - Junior goalie Ryan Pellinger 2 - Senior defenseman Ben Neuenfeldt 4 - Sophomore defenseman Max Balon 5 - Senior defenseman Carson Clark 7 - Senior forward Colin Bierman 8 - Senior defenseman George Ericson 9 - Senior forward Max Luedtke 10 - Senior forward Torii Schmidt 12 - Junior forward Tommy Colmenero 14 - Senior forward Nolan O ’ Connell 15 - Junior defenseman Ryder Alstead 16 - Junior forward Eli Molde 18 - Junior defenseman Jake Nawrocki 19 - Junior forward Drew Peterson 20 - Junior forward Christopher Pyle 21 - Sophomore forward McCoy Kurtz 22 - Senior defenseman Finn De St . Hubert 23 - Sophomore forward Kruz Sauer 24 - Junior defenseman Ben Turek 26 - Sophomore forward Jackson Hendricks 29 - Senior forward Tate Roeder 30 - Senior goalie Sammy Swan
28 games at forward last season and contributed nine points on six goals and three assists .
Two more senior defensemen back with the varsity this season are George Ericson and Ben Neuenfeldt . Goalie Ryan Pellinger , who played behind 2024 graduates Evan Turek and Gage Alstead last season , is another returning player .
Junior Tommy Colmenero , who played in 21 games last season , has varsity experience at forward , as does senior Colin Bierman , who saw action in 18 games last season .
Pat O ’ Leary , entering his 15th season as Wayzata ’ s head coach , is excited with the talent of the new varsity players .
For the first time in many years , he has four sophomores playing regular shifts to start the season - forwards Jackson Hendricks , McCoy Kurtz and Kruz Sauer and defenseman Maddox Balon .
“ Our senior defensemen are good players ,” O ’ Leary said . “ The biggest thing is that they are great leaders .”
Finn De St . Hubert , a fourth-year varsity player , is the lone captain .
“ I have never had as many high-end forwards on one team than we had last season ,” O ’ Leary said . “ The games in the CCX Media Turkey Trot [ Nov . 22-23 ] were good for us . We played Moorhead the first night and won 3-2 in overtime on George
( SUN PHOTO BY JOHN SHERMAN )
Wayzata High ’ s boys hockey leaders are , from left to right : Eli Molde , Carson Clark and Finn De St . Hubert .
Ericson ’ s goal . We lost 4-3 to Maple Grove the second night . Moorhead is a solid all-around team and Maple Grove is more of a free-wheeling team . We played well defensively both nights . I liked the way we competed and stuck together . Offensively , we ’ re a work in progress , but you can see the potential .”
Following the tournament , the Trojans went up north for games against Rock Ridge and Duluth East .
O ’ Leary knows the Lake Conference will be challenging once again with two games each against Edina , Minnetonka and Eden Prairie . Minnetonka was the Lake champion last season with an 8-0-2 record with Wayzata and Edina battling for second place . Finn De St . Hubert is optimistic that Wayzata can compete for the Lake championship .
“ Pat [ O ’ Leary ] is a great coach ,” the captain said . “ He knows so much about the game . And his attention to detail is gives the program a winning tradition .”
In terms of personnel , De St . Hubert likes what he has seen so far .
“ We have a strong group of skilled , experienced defensemen ,” he said . “ Our forwards compete every day .”
De St . Hubert and Clark are looking forward to helping the power-play and penalty-kill units the same way they did last season . “ I know that Carson always has my back ,” De St . Hubert said . “ We lift each other up .”
“ The younger guys in our crew have a lot of skill ,” Clark said . “ We have a chance to be really good .”
Asked about rivalries , De St . Hubert and Clark agreed that Edina is No . 1 on the list . Since Edina and Wayzata are together in Section 6AA , games between the schools mean the most . Minnetonka is another team Wayzata loves to compete against , due the proximity of the schools . Edina is not the only team that Wayzata has to be concerned with in Section 6AA . Benilde-St . Margaret ’ s has a good combination of fast forwards and hard-working defensemen and the coaching experience of one of Minnesota ’ s best , Ken Pauly .
O ’ Leary had a chance to take notes on Edina during the CCX Media Turkey Trot . “ Edina ’ s top line looks phenomenal ,” he observed .