Wednesday, June 01, 2005

IceDiggers forward makes D-III commitment

Alpena IceDiggers' veteran forward Kaleigh Schrock has committed to play varsity hockey at Neumann College beginning this fall.

Schrock, a 20-year-old from Fort Wayne, Indiana, came to this IceDiggers this past season from the Grand Rapids Jr. Owls of the CSHL. He finished the 2004-05 campaign as the team captain and recorded 15 goals and eight assists. He was second on the team in power play goals with six and his 175 penalty minutes led the IceDiggers and were fourth highest in the NAHL.

"We are extremely excited for Kaleigh," remarked Alpena head coach and general manager Mike Mankowski. "He was a warrior, played well in big games and gave us everything he had."

Neumann College is a member of the ECAC-West (Division III) and is located in Aston, Pennsylvania. Schrock will join former IceDiggers forward Dayne Bihn at Neumann.

In other Alpena news, the IceDiggers completed their first of three tryout camps scheduled for this off-season this past weekend in Toledo, Ohio. Over 85 players participated in the four-day camp at the Toledo Ice House.

The camp included four goalie-only sessions, eight scrimmage games and a final all-star game. Veteran defenseman Adam Snead led all players in scoring with five goals. Kyle Botos, Branden Moran, Bryan Murphy and Nick Stroup all recorded three goals each over the weekend. Goaltender Bryan Kalczynski allowed only one goal the entire weekend.

Other goalies Stephen Madej, Andrew New and Jason Spencer allowed three goals each.

Numerous impressive performances were turned in by underclassmen. A total of eight '88 birth year and four '89 birth year players advanced to the all-star game. All players are looking to advance to the invitation-only tryout camp, which will be held later this summer at Northern Lights Arena in Alpena.

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