NOJHL alumni win NCAA D-III title
SUDBURY, Ont. – A pair of Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League alumnus are celebrating a NCAA D-III championship after their University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Pointers won the national title Saturday night in Lake Placid, N.Y.
Former Kirkland Lake Gold Miners defencemen Ethan Strong and Ryan Scherer are on the roster the UWSP side that defeated St. Norbert College 5-1 in the final.
Strong is a freshman at Stevens Point while Scherer is sophomore.
Last season saw Strong named to the NOJHL first all-star team on defence and was also selected the league’s top defenceman award recipient.
The Kinmount, Ont., product notched 14 power play tallies, which led all NOJHL defencemen, and were also the second highest total in the entire league. He also skated for Team NOJHL at the Eastern Canada Challenge Cup.
In all, Strong saw action in 143 NOJHL regular season contests tallying 33 times while setting up 52 others for 85 points.
Scherer meanwhile hails from Elgin, Ill., and was a two-year assistant captain with Kirkland Lake while bolstering the club’s defensive corps.
In 84 career contests with the Gold Miners Scherer scored four times and doled out 25 assists for 29 points.
Both players were also member of the Gold Miners squad that won the NOJHL championship in 2013-14 and represented the league at the Dudley-Hewitt Cup in Wellington, Ont.