{"id":151385,"date":"2025-02-20T08:01:32","date_gmt":"2025-02-20T14:01:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/?p=151385"},"modified":"2025-02-20T08:03:29","modified_gmt":"2025-02-20T14:03:29","slug":"bethels-tyler-braccini-more-than-an-average-d-iii-hockey-player","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2025\/02\/20\/bethels-tyler-braccini-more-than-an-average-d-iii-hockey-player\/","title":{"rendered":"Bethel’s Tyler Braccini more than an ‘average D-III hockey player’"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Tyler Braccini leads the MIAC in goals scored this season. (Nathan Klok\/Bethel Athletics)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tyler Braccini was once told by a coach that he\u2019d never be that great of a college hockey player, not even at the Division III level.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was told some harsh things,\u201d Braccini said. \u201cOne coach, I won\u2019t name names, told me I\u2019d never even be an average D-III hockey player. That\u2019s been on my whiteboard since I was a freshman.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Now a junior, Braccini is a standout for the Bethel Royals. In fact, he leads the MIAC in goals scored (16) while also dishing out 11 assists.<\/span><\/p>\n

He\u2019s far ahead of where he was a season ago when he scored 11 goals and tallied eight assists. That success comes down to the way Braccini has approached the game and the way he handles the pressure of being a player his team counts on.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think about it quite a bit. I think last year I had like two goals until about January 2nd, and my coach and I looked at how much pressure I was putting on myself to succeed, to score. I still put pressure on myself, but now I focus on the process, knowing I\u2019m going to get chances and I\u2019m not as hard on myself when I miss.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The approach has worked well and the Royals are one of the best teams in the MIAC, sitting in second heading into the final weekend of play. They are 12-8-3 overall and 8-4-2 in the league.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone has bought in to the one body commitment,\u201d Braccini said. \u201cIt relates to a passage in the Bible where every part of the body has a role, and we\u2019ve truly bought into that. Everyone is playing hard for the guy next to them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Braccini is from Minnesota and grew up playing hockey. He didn\u2019t like it as much at first but then saw Pittsburgh Penguins legend Sidney Crosby play in the Stanley Cup Finals and his love for the game changed big time.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt sparked my love for the game and for Crosby and how he went about the game,\u201d Braccini said. \u201cI\u2019ve watched a lot of videos on him and tried to implement things he does into my game. I even name my dog after him, with my family\u2019s consent of course.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
(Photo by Nathan Klok\/Bethel Athletics)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Braccini wasn\u2019t a highly recruited player while in juniors but Bethel gave him a chance. He\u2019s thankful for it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI love how they spoke about loving you no matter what and that they implement faith into hockey rather than try to separate it,\u201d Braccini said.<\/span><\/p>\n

This season has been his best one yet with the Royals and he said he continues to trust the process.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve learned to stay level headed throughout a game,\u201d Braccini said. \u201cI know I\u2019m going to get chances and I don\u2019t get too high or too low. I\u2019ve had great games and I\u2019ve had bad games, but none of them truly define me. I still put pressure on myself, but it\u2019s healthy. I wouldn\u2019t work as hard if there wasn\u2019t pressure. Pressure is privilege.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He\u2019s looking forward to helping Bethel contend for a MIAC title. And when he thinks back to being overlooked on the recruiting trail, he takes pride in knowing he\u2019s come so far.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely rewarding and something I thank God for,\u201d Braccini said. \u201cI could have given up, but God put it on my heart that I was made for more and no one else\u2019s words define me. It\u2019s cool to see where I am, but there is still so much more I want to do.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tyler Braccini was once told by a coach that he\u2019d never be that great of a college hockey player, not even at the Division III level. \u201cI was told some harsh things,\u201d Braccini said. \u201cOne coach, I won\u2019t name names, told me I\u2019d never even be an average D-III hockey player. That\u2019s been on my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":85,"featured_media":151386,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[820],"coauthors":[821],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBethel's Tyler Braccini more than an 'average D-III hockey player' - College Hockey | USCHO.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Tyler Braccini was once told by a coach that he\u2019d never be that great of a college hockey player, not even at the Division III level. \u201cI was told some\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151385\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bethel's Tyler Braccini more than an 'average D-III hockey player' - College Hockey | USCHO.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Tyler Braccini was once told by a coach that he\u2019d never be that great of a college hockey player, not even at the Division III level. \u201cI was told some\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151385\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"College Hockey | USCHO.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OfficialUSCHO\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-02-20T14:01:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-02-20T14:03:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Screenshot_20250220_075750_Gallery.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"607\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brian Lester\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@USCHO\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@USCHO\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Brian Lester\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2025\/02\/20\/bethels-tyler-braccini-more-than-an-average-d-iii-hockey-player\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2025\/02\/20\/bethels-tyler-braccini-more-than-an-average-d-iii-hockey-player\/\",\"name\":\"Bethel's Tyler Braccini more than an 'average D-III hockey player' - College Hockey | USCHO.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2025\/02\/20\/bethels-tyler-braccini-more-than-an-average-d-iii-hockey-player\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2025\/02\/20\/bethels-tyler-braccini-more-than-an-average-d-iii-hockey-player\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Screenshot_20250220_075750_Gallery.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-20T14:01:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-20T14:03:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e4f8b63db8eb234f6bf20426e8e69119\"},\"description\":\"Tyler Braccini was once told by a coach that he\u2019d never be that great of a college hockey player, not even at the Division III level. \u201cI was told some\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2025\/02\/20\/bethels-tyler-braccini-more-than-an-average-d-iii-hockey-player\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2025\/02\/20\/bethels-tyler-braccini-more-than-an-average-d-iii-hockey-player\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2025\/02\/20\/bethels-tyler-braccini-more-than-an-average-d-iii-hockey-player\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Screenshot_20250220_075750_Gallery.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Screenshot_20250220_075750_Gallery.jpg\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":607,\"caption\":\"Tyler Braccini leads the MIAC in goals scored this season. (Nathan Klok\/Bethel Athletics)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2025\/02\/20\/bethels-tyler-braccini-more-than-an-average-d-iii-hockey-player\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Bethel’s Tyler Braccini more than an ‘average D-III hockey player’\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/\",\"name\":\"College Hockey | USCHO.com\",\"description\":\"Men's and Women's D-I and D-III College Hockey News, Features, Scores, Statistics, Fan Forum, Blogs\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e4f8b63db8eb234f6bf20426e8e69119\",\"name\":\"Brian Lester\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/cd57736bbe952a9a60379f473b586277\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9ca4d2db0932dcb68f1d0442b744c42a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9ca4d2db0932dcb68f1d0442b744c42a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Brian Lester\"},\"description\":\"Division III Columnist Brian Lester covers Western Division III conferences for USCHO.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/author\/brianlester\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Bethel's Tyler Braccini more than an 'average D-III hockey player' - College Hockey | USCHO.com","description":"Tyler Braccini was once told by a coach that he\u2019d never be that great of a college hockey player, not even at the Division III level. \u201cI was told some","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151385","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Bethel's Tyler Braccini more than an 'average D-III hockey player' - College Hockey | USCHO.com","og_description":"Tyler Braccini was once told by a coach that he\u2019d never be that great of a college hockey player, not even at the Division III level. \u201cI was told some","og_url":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151385","og_site_name":"College Hockey | USCHO.com","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OfficialUSCHO\/","article_published_time":"2025-02-20T14:01:32+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-02-20T14:03:29+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1080,"height":607,"url":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Screenshot_20250220_075750_Gallery.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Brian Lester","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@USCHO","twitter_site":"@USCHO","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Brian Lester","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2025\/02\/20\/bethels-tyler-braccini-more-than-an-average-d-iii-hockey-player\/","url":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2025\/02\/20\/bethels-tyler-braccini-more-than-an-average-d-iii-hockey-player\/","name":"Bethel's Tyler Braccini more than an 'average D-III hockey player' - College Hockey | USCHO.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2025\/02\/20\/bethels-tyler-braccini-more-than-an-average-d-iii-hockey-player\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2025\/02\/20\/bethels-tyler-braccini-more-than-an-average-d-iii-hockey-player\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Screenshot_20250220_075750_Gallery.jpg","datePublished":"2025-02-20T14:01:32+00:00","dateModified":"2025-02-20T14:03:29+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e4f8b63db8eb234f6bf20426e8e69119"},"description":"Tyler Braccini was once told by a coach that he\u2019d never be that great of a college hockey player, not even at the Division III level. \u201cI was told some","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2025\/02\/20\/bethels-tyler-braccini-more-than-an-average-d-iii-hockey-player\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2025\/02\/20\/bethels-tyler-braccini-more-than-an-average-d-iii-hockey-player\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2025\/02\/20\/bethels-tyler-braccini-more-than-an-average-d-iii-hockey-player\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Screenshot_20250220_075750_Gallery.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Screenshot_20250220_075750_Gallery.jpg","width":1080,"height":607,"caption":"Tyler Braccini leads the MIAC in goals scored this season. (Nathan Klok\/Bethel Athletics)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2025\/02\/20\/bethels-tyler-braccini-more-than-an-average-d-iii-hockey-player\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Bethel’s Tyler Braccini more than an ‘average D-III hockey player’"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/","name":"College Hockey | USCHO.com","description":"Men's and Women's D-I and D-III College Hockey News, Features, Scores, Statistics, Fan Forum, Blogs","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/#\/schema\/person\/e4f8b63db8eb234f6bf20426e8e69119","name":"Brian Lester","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/cd57736bbe952a9a60379f473b586277","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9ca4d2db0932dcb68f1d0442b744c42a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9ca4d2db0932dcb68f1d0442b744c42a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Brian Lester"},"description":"Division III Columnist Brian Lester covers Western Division III conferences for USCHO.","url":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/author\/brianlester\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151385"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/85"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151385"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151385\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":151389,"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151385\/revisions\/151389"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151385"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151385"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151385"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=151385"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}