Canton, NY – Head Men's Hockey Coach Alex Boak announced this year's incoming recruiting class that includes 11 players, nine of which are freshman mixed with two sophomore transfers.

Below is a position-by-position breakdown of the incoming Roos including four freshman forwards, three rookie defensemen, two freshmen goaltenders and a pair of transfers. Get to know each student-athlete from their hometown, previous team, statistics and coaches take.

 

Forwards:
Ville Koivula
Hometown: Piniso, Finland
Previous Team: Koovee U20 (Jr A. Mestis)    
Stats: 9 GP 7 G 4 A 11 PTS 4 PIM

"Ville will bring more speed and skill to our lineup and can really shoot the puck. We are looking for freshmen to make an impact and as a coaching staff we believe he can do so."


Tyler Bullard

Hometown: Ballston Spa, NY 
Previous Team: Northern Cyclones (EHL)      
Stats: 41 GP 13G 22A 35 PTS 53 PIM

"Tyler is a skilled forward who produced very well in his league last year. He has a great work ethic on the ice and will fit well into our system."

 

Brad Reitter
Hometown: Grand Rapids, MI
Previous Team: Vermont Lumberjacks (EHL)            
Stats: 41 GP 9G 29A 38 PTS 40 PIM

"Brad is one of those blue collar type players that produces. We will look for him to bring some skill to our lineup but play an in-your-face style of play to make it hard on opponents."


Patrick Farnan

Hometown: Clifton Park, NY 
Previous Team: Vermont Lumberjacks (EHL)            
Stats: 35 GP 10 G 5 A 15 PTS 14 PIM

"Patrick is going to give us some size up front. For his size he is a great skater with an ability to use his size to win battles and will bring toughness to our lineup."


Defensemen:

Luke Hincenbergs
Hometown: Toronto, ON        
Previous Team: North York Rangers (OJHL)  
Stats: 51 GP 1 G 3 A 4 PTS 43 PIM

"After watching Luke numerous times last year he is just a solid defender. He does a very good job defending down low in our defensive zone and can make great passes to get us out of our zone quickly."

Stuart Fierheller

Hometown: Lindsay, ON        
Previous Team: Brockville Braves (CCHL)    
Stats: 21 GP 0 G 7 A 7 PTS 14 PIM

"Stuart has great skating abilities as a defenseman. He defends the rush very well and brings an edge to our D-core. We will look to him to bring those assets to our lineup and to make our D-core that much better."
 

David Hopfer
Hometown: Tonawanda, NY  
Previous Team: Boston Jr. Bandits (EHL)       
Stats: 40 GP 4 G 16A 20 PTS 72 PIM

"David will bring some much wanted skill to our D-core. He sees the ice very well and is creative on the power play. We will have a good balance of both skill and grit on our back end and David adds the skill we need to be successful."
 

Goalies:

Michael Cerasuolo
Hometown: Montreal, QUE    
Previous Team: Brockville Braves (CCHL)    
Stats: 19 GP 2.11 GAA .936 SV%

"Mike brings in some great numbers from last year. He is a very athletic kid and just has a great compete level to battle through traffic to stop pucks."
 

Austin Washkurak
Hometown: Oakville, ON       
Previous Team: Burlington Cougars (OJHL)
Stats: 18 GP 3.32 GAA .902 SV%

"Austin brings a great track record to our team this year. Playing juniors for the past four years gives him great experience and will push our goalies to be better every day."
 


Sophomore Transfers:

Zach Pease
Hometown: Toronto, ON        
Previous Team: Fredonia (NCAA D-III)
Stats: 2 GP 0 G 0 A 0 PTS 0 PIM

Marcus Baird
Hometown: Oakville, ON       
Previous Team: Finlandia University (NCAA D-III)
Stats: 20 GP 0 G 0 A 0 PTS 6 PIM
 

"Bringing in two transfer students just adds character and leadership to our group. Having played collegiate hockey already they know what it takes to play at the college level. This will only help our group of freshman to acclimate to college hockey."

Overall Coaches Take
"Looking forward to this year I really think that we filled some voids in our lineup with the freshmen class we have coming in and also returners getting into different roles than what they had on the team last year. We made great strides last year competing against some tough schools and that is only going to make us stronger and more experienced this year. Guys know what to expect this year and everyone in our program is very motivated to get this season rolling."

The SUNY Canton men's hockey team opens its season with a home weekend series against SUNY Cortland on October 28th and 29th, with both pucks dropping at 7 p.m. in the Roos House.

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About SUNY Canton
SUNY Canton is Northern New York's premier college for career-driven bachelor's degrees, associate degrees and certificate programs. The college delivers quality hands-on programs in engineering technology, health, management and public service. Faculty members are noted for their professional real-world experience in addition to outstanding academic credentials. SUNY Canton OnLine offers hundreds of flexible and convenient courses, as well as 10 exclusively online bachelor's degrees. The college's 15 athletic teams compete as members of the NCAA Division III and the USCAA.