Mean Green skates way into Nationals

By Ben Baby / Staff Writer –

The UNT roller hockey team is headed to the National Championships.

After winning the Southern Collegiate Hockey League Division I title on Feb. 28, UNT moves on to compete with 17 teams at the National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association National Championships, which take will place on April 7 to 11 in San Jose, Calif.

“I expect us to make the top four,” freshman defenseman John Paul Kellogg said. “If we play up to our potential I think we can win nationals.”

The UNT roller hockey team massacred the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns 10-5 at the SCHL Regional Championships on Feb. 28, going 2-0 in the best-of-three series.

“I’m not going to lie, I was coming into it a little nervous because we haven’t been able to defeat [ULL] during the regular season,” Kellogg said. “I just knew that with all the practice we were having at the end of the season that we would be able to hang with the guys.”

The Mean Green did more than hang with the Ragin’ Cajuns, the defending SCHL Division I champs. UNT assaulted the ULL net all through the game, scoring a whopping 10 goals on just 29 shots.

Throughout the postseason, UNT dominated the opposition, outscoring its opponent by 38-15 in four games.

With head coach John Berry at the helm, the Mean Green is led by a slew of phenomenal rookies. Junior forward Sam Haslam leads the team with 33 goals and 56 points. After Haslam, three of the team’s next four top point scorers are new to the team.

The Mean Green has a deep and talented roster, with six players scoring at least 25 points on the season. Along with its depth, the team’s chemistry has helped them maintain a high level of performance.

“One of our greatest strengths is, pretty much, we’ve all played with each other for so long. Like in high school, we all played with each other,” freshman forward Tim Duggan said. “In high school ice hockey we played with each other for years, and now we’re all together on a college roller team.”

The Mean Green has been rolling through their opponents, going unbeaten in their last 11 games. Its last loss came against ULL on Jan. 23. UNT improved on last year’s postseason performance, dropping its final two games in the regional championships.

UNT will not surprise anybody when Nationals roll around. The Mean Green is ranked No. 5 in the nation by the Independent Rankings Committee. It will face top teams from around the nation, something the Mean Green are accustomed to.

“We went to Chicago and played a lot of good teams, like Michigan State and Buffalo,” Duggan said. “I think that really is going to prepare us for the postseason.”