[362] LUX-LED HOCKEY RAIDERS FINISH STRONG, EYE 2009-10 IMPROVEMENT

Release date: March 12, 2009


News & Public Affairs contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-2919
MTSU Ice Hockey contact: Tina Welch, 615-625-3190


LUX-LED HOCKEY RAIDERS FINISH STRONG, EYE 2009-10 IMPROVEMENT

(MURFREESBORO) — To show that the NHL Predators aren’t the only game in town, the MTSU ice hockey club just finished its 10th season of competition.
Under Coach Jeff Deluca, the Blue Raiders fashioned a 11-13 record against American Collegiate Hockey Association Division III club teams.
Junior Ryan Lux of Buffalo, N.Y., led the Blue Raiders’ offensive firepower, scoring 100 points (including 42 goals) in 24 games.
Junior Jordan Quintana of Franklin, who is a Michigan native, was among the top 50 ACHA scorers with 85 points (34 goals and 51 assists), said senior Alex Hacker of Collierville. Mitch Washer contributed 77 points (39 goals and 38 assists) in 24 games.
Sophomore Dustin Smith logged most of the playing time in goal.
“He was the anchor,” Washer, a junior from Leonard, Mich., just north of Detroit, said of Smith.
“He kept us in both UT (Tennessee) games,” added Hacker, talking about Smith. “They (UT) were outshooting us. He’d stand on his head (in goal). We had a lot of goals against, but not because of him.” (MT lost 10-3 and 9-0 to Tennessee.)
MT finished on a strong note, defeating Louisville 18-5 and 7-5 in mid-February at the team’s home ice, A Game Southern Ice Arena in Franklin.
The hockey Raiders fared rather well considering they were skating shorthanded in nearly every game. Because of injuries, anywhere from 11 to 14 players would suit up against opponents with 20 to 22 players on the roster.
“All the coaches would come up and tell you that if we had a lot more really skilled people, we would’ve had a better team,” Hacker said. “We would run out of gas in the second and third periods. We did not have enough endurance.”
Hacker said he does not understand why more players from Nashville’s 29 high school teams do not continue their hockey careers at MTSU.
“They most likely will go to college somewhere in Tennessee,” he said. “It’s definitely something we should tap into.”
The hockey club is affiliated with the MTSU Foundation and all monetary donations to the team will be tax deductible, said Jennifer Allen, development director for the College of Basic and Applied Sciences.
Because it is a sport club and not part of MTSU’s athletic department, it receives some funding from student activity fees dispersed by the Health, Wellness and Recreation Center, said Dr. Wendy Windsor, who is associate director of intramural sports, sport clubs and wellness at the rec center.
The hockey club receives only about one-fourth of its $40,000 annual budget from the rec center funding, said Tina Welch, a volunteer organizer for the team. She added that the remainder of the cost for the team must come from donations, fundraising, parents and players.
With uniform, equipment (especially sticks), facility rental/referee fees ($925 per game this season) and travel (van rental and accommodations) expenses so steep, the club hopes to have a fundraiser before the 2009-10 season, Welch said. She and others will be planning the event, with details to be announced later.
For more information about donations, contact Welch at 615-625-3190.

For MTSU news and information, go to mtsunews.com.

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