Two Wheeling Central Catholic High School graduates, Class of 2021, are members of the West Virginia University hockey team that won its first-ever conference championship Sunday, February 19, at the Winston-Salem, NC, Fairgrounds Annex.
Mason Smith and Caleb Karnell play on the Mountaineers D2 club hockey team that clinched the Atlantic Coast Collegiate Hockey League M2 Division Admiral’s Cup with a 5-0 shutout of University of North Carolina-Charlotte. With the win the Mountaineers advance into the regional tournament scheduled for March 3-5 in Winston-Salem.
WVU’s D2 hockey club, a non-athletic department program, has been a member of the ACCHL for five years. The program earned its first-ever playoff game win with its 2-1, double-overtime victory against Georgetown in the quarterfinals on Friday, February 17.
The Mountaineers followed that with a 7-0 shutout of Elon the next day in the semifinals to advance to the championship. With wins over Elon and UNCC the Mountaineers avenged losses to both teams at a tournament earlier in the season.
After senior goaltender Michael Mackey held Georgetown to one goal in 70+ minutes in the quarterfinals, freshman goaltender Griffin Knorr posted back-to-back shutouts against Elon and UNCC. Knorr stopped a combined 70 shots in the two games.
Team leading scorer Mark Stankiewicz was named tournament MVP.
WVU has a 17-7-2 record with the playoff championship, including a 10-0-1 record and first place finish in the ACCHL Elite Division Virginia Region regular season.
Several Mountaineers received honors following the regular season, including Stankiewicz who was named to the First Team All-ACC in the D2 Elite Division.
Teammate Jake Weikel was named a member of the Rookie Team, and Head Coach Tyler Kutek was honored as Coach of the Year.
Both sophomores, Smith and Karnell have been playing for the WVU program for two seasons.
Smith, a forward, played football, hockey and lacrosse at Wheeling Central, winning state championships in all three sports.
Karnell, a defenseman, also won state championships while playing football, hockey and lacrosse for the Maroon Knights.
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