A quick look at this week’s D-III poll finds the Chatham Cougars at No. 15 and making their first ever appearance in the national poll. At 6-0-0 on the season, the nine-year old program has had a strong start to the new season which they hope to turn into success in the UCHC come next February.
“Being from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania there is the Pittsburgh approach to things,” noted head coach Michael Gershon. “Steelers coach Mike Tomlin says, “the standard is the standard” and we are working on that through a different experience being a ranked team. While that has garnered a lot of attention from the hockey alums who never experienced it, we are focused on competing with ourselves and keying in on our accountability to find the consistency of playing a full sixty-minute game.”
This year’s roster features a more experienced group than in past seasons along with a core group of homegrown freshmen that have found their way to college hockey at Chatham to the delight of their coach.
“We have been hoping for this for the past five-years and knew it would come someday,” stated Gershon. “Caden [Pendo], Ian [Norkevicus], Kowin [Belsterling] and Camden [Davis] all grew up playing hockey locally and came back to play here from junior stints. As we look to build up D-III hockey in the mid-American area (PA/OH/IN), it is great to see talented players choose to play in their backyard. We are delighted to see this development and that they are integrating well into the college game contributing to our success this season.”
One of the key players for the Cougars this season has been senior forward, Nick Cyprian. Cyprian leads the team with twelve points (3G – 9A – 12 Pts; +9) in their first six games and is just eleven points from becoming the first Cougar player to hit the century mark with the program.
“Nick is a highly skilled and strong skating player with a great sense of the game,” said Gershon. “The difference in Nick is how he competes – he is a low-key guy who just flips a switch when he gets on the ice and brings that full compete level to everything whether it is practice or the games. He elevates that level in other players as I have seen some battles in practice between Nick and Caden that just make them both better. He is a quiet leader that has shown more voice this year and off the ice. Ultimately Nick is what you want to see in a great D-III athlete – growth on the personal, student, and athletic fronts.”
While Cyprian has been a leader on the offensive side of the game for Chatham, junior goaltender Cameron Kuntar has taken the crease by storm this season as the clear No. 1 netminder for the Cougars. Kuntar is 5-0-0 on the season with an astounding .958 save percentage and a 1.29 goals-against average while averaging 27 saves per game to begin the season. Against Nazareth on Saturday, Kuntar made 33 saves as the Golden Flyers outshot the Cougars in a 3-2 come-from-behind win.
“While it took one-year for Nick to figure out the college game, it has taken Cameron two years,” noted Gershon. “Last season he was looking for more playing time and the coaching staff challenged him to earn it. He went away after the school year and came back as the same great person he is but a different player on the ice. I don’t know what he changed up but he was given an opportunity and he has seized it. We are seeing the benefits of his hard work and focus and need to make sure, like Nick, we aren’t leaning on him too much.”
This weekend the Cougars travel to Brockport for a two-game series where coach Gershon played in his collegiate years under current Golden Eagle head coach Brian Dickinson. With a break at Thanksgiving, Chatham closes out the first half with two home games against Albertus Magnus. While a 10-0-0 start is in sight, that is not what the coach is looking for starting this weekend on the road.
“Our short-term goal is to play a full sixty-minute game, rest and then do it again the next day,” said Gershon. “We have not done that consistently yet this season so we need to learn from our recent experience against Nazareth and show that we can do it this weekend against a challenging Brockport team.”