Foreward
For those of you have been with us since the 2023-2024 MCLA season (the return season), you know how this article normally goes: I talk about last season, the departures, the additions, what to expect from the veterans, as well as to expect from both individual players and the group as a whole going into the new season. With the overview out of the way, I want to start by acknowledging and congratulating the returning and departed players from the 2024-2025 campaign for their MASCAC playoff run that left them one game and three goals shy of a conference championship and a national tournament appearance. For context, the triumphs of those victories and the agony of accepting a trophy are included below.
Looking ahead to the next season, the Trailblazers will be a different team, starting a new era. On October 3rd, Marcus Glosser was named as the second head coach of the restarted MCLA program. In Glosser’s two seasons as an Assistant Coach at SUNY Buffalo State under Steve Murphy, the team finished 9-13-2-1 (2023-2024) and 16-11 in 2024-2025. During his time there, the Bengals had two statement wins: a 6-4 victory over Plattsburgh on December 8th, 2023 and a 5-3 victory over Cortland on November 16th, 2024. Based on the success that freshman Austin Micale had at Buffalo State last season, it’s reasonable to expect that Glosser’s experience should yield results for returning fringe stars like Easton Moore, Cade Herrera, and Christopher Gallagher.
The next section is a divergence from my standard content on this website. For the people who have been with us, we are about building up positive narratives with the intention of uplifting players and programs; however, I can not in good conscience omit the next section titled “Pipebomb”. This article is a choose your own adventure. If you don’t want to read criticisms of the way a situation was handled by the program, please skip to “Departures”.
Pipebomb
This Tweet is how people that aren’t employed or directly affiliated with MCLA hockey found out about Jeremiah Ketts’s exit from the program. Exceptional work from the D3 Hockey News team to do what the university refused to do, and put a public statement about it on social media.
My rant here is simple: Jeremiah Ketts gave two entire years of his life to this university as both the hockey and golf coach. He spent countless hours to build this program from zero, building the culture, having the difficult conversations about not getting too high or too low in the room following the rollercoaster of long losing streaks and playoff wins. In my personal and professional experiences around Coach Ketts, he was a tremendous public facing ambassador for MCLA as a hockey program and as an academic institution; always giving great answers to difficult questions about the on-ice product, but also would speak to character of both the players on his team and students at the university.
I do not know what happened behind closed doors. I do not know why MCLA and Coach Ketts parted ways, and honestly, I do not care. I’m not asking for answers. It’s not my position to question the personnel decision(s) of a university. My issue that I have is that the university and its leadership did not have the decorum to put out an official statement about it. Knowing the spiritual capital that goes into being a leader and mentor of young people, especially in public facing roles that demand results, he deserved a public statement and gratitude for the time and effort he invested into the university’s hockey program. If a university neglects showing gratitude and accountability in the face of controversy, what example are they setting for the students and other faculty members.
I apologize if you do not agree with this statement. Back to talking about hockey.
Departures
The Trailblazers graduated one senior at the end of 2025 in the form of defenseman Matthew Castillo. The one known as “Pipes” was a consistent physical presence on the backend. For non-graduation related departures, MCLA will be without Addam Brunner, Alex Ferris, and Mathew Gover in 2025-2026. After a strong Freshman campaign where he scored 10 points, Brunner saw a dip in his points total in 2024-2025, but was a capable contributor for the team in a bottom six role. He will be taking his on-ice talents (and great personality) to St. John Fisher, closer to his hometown in upstate New York for their inaugural season. Ferris was one of the best pure defenders in the MASCAC last season and a true PK specialist (often alongside Shane Green) and to my knowledge, will not be playing hockey in 2025-2026. Mathew Gover, who finished 15th in GSAA and led the nation in saves last season, departed MCLA to join Huntingdon College to play Golf, who at the time of writing are ranked 1st in the nation. The departure of three strong defensive contributors played a key factor in MCLA’s additions for the 2025-2026 recruiting and transfer class.
Additions
We’re going to start this section by taking a look at the blue line. The Trailblazers added three new faces to their backend in Luc Fricchione, Krisjanis Graholskis, and Kieran Kenny. Fricchione joins as a transfer from behind enemy lines in the MASCAC, as a former Worcester State Lancer. During his time at WSU, he appeared in 41 games, recording 4 points, and locking down the defensive zone in front of WSU’s solid goalie tandem of Friedlander and Kubik. I expect Fricchione to replace Ferris’s defensive minutes this season, as experience is an valuable asset in college hockey, especially in front of the unseasoned goalie room MCLA has (we’ll get to that later). Graholskis joins after a strong campaign for the NA3HL’s Maine Nordiques where he finished with 23 points in 43 games (second most point of all defensemen). Listed at 6’4″, MCLA will benefit from Graholskis’s size and offensive instincts this season; if he can acclimate to the speed of the game quickly, he could be a strong addition to a blue line that only scored 28 points in 24 games last season. Kenny’s 11 points in 46 games for the Philadelphia Hockey Club of the EHL, while being noted as a strong shot blocker, will allot him to be a replacement for Castillo, as his strong defensive game, much like Fricchione will be important in front of an inexperienced goalie group.
Moving to the forwards, MCLA added: Charles Vukovic, Jake Smith, and Sam Perdion. From a high-level, all three additions fit the archetype of the Trailblazers’ additions over the past two seasons: responsible two-way players. Vukovic recorded 22 points in 46 games in respectable middle-six role for the Walpole Express of the EHL last season. Smith had a similar role recording 17 points in 44 games for the Philadelphia Hockey Club. Perdion, for the Charlotte Rush of the USPHL Premier, recorded 25 points in 40 games in that same middle-six role as his aforementioned compatriots.
In goal, MCLA added two fresh faces: Matthew Ryynanen and Rocco Stolz. Ryynanen joins with uncommon experience having split time between Calumet in the GLHL and Adrian in ACHA II last season following a three-season run in the NA3HL. Through his junior and ACHA career, Ryynanen has consistently posted a 0.900+ save percentage, and should add unique experience to the room for MCLA this season. Stolz joins from the USPHL Premier’s Charlotte Rush. Stolz’s 0.936 save percentage in 2024-2025 was good enough for 10th in the league among all goalies who started at least 10 games. These additions will be key as goaltending has been a cornerstone of MCLA’s first two seasons, and with new coach, Marcus Glosser having been a goalie himself, this will be a position of great focus in 2025-2026.
Returning and Expectations
Winning cures all. MCLA went 6-20-2 last season, and despite the weight of consistent defeats, all that anyone remembers is the last three do-or-die games where they briefly captured the national attention of Spittin Chiclets Contributor and North Adams State Alumnus Brian McGonagle (Rear Admiral). Down the stretch the team had its issues, primarily scoring goals, as alluded to the earlier stat that the blueline collectively added 28 points, with Shane Green adding 43% of those. Glosser’s first tall order will be adjusting the team’s system to create more scoring from the backend. Anyone who has watched an MCLA game knows that Easton Moore, Cade Herrera, Christopher Gallager, Quinn Murphy, Luke Rhoss, and Sean Schifferl can create and execute on their chances. In the MASCAC, I’m not sure there is a top-six forward group that won more one-on-one matchups in transition than these guys, but the team wasn’t able to consistently take advantage of the space they generate. We also know that Green, Spencer Craig, and Connor Nagy have the tools and the knowledge to create offense from their own zone, while also being some of the best penalty killers in the country. If Glosser can help these guys turn the corner, MCLA will be a credible threat in the MASCAC.
The Trailblazers depth players were a beacon for them at points last season. Charlie Addesa is one of the best two-way centers in the MASCAC, while Gavin Glaubitz is his perfect partner on the PK and locking things down in the MCLA zone. Sean Neu, Sam Zis, Cody White, Jack Bortle, and Walter Brown know their strengths and know how to hold games together, while occasionally chipping in important goals down the stretch. Colin Ogborn and Josh Romanowski are seasoned stay-at-home defenders who the young goaltending trio will be trusting immensely this season.
In goal, sophomore Josh Girard will finally get his bid to start. Girard has been chronically unlucky in his career, as he has backed up two of division three’s best goalies in Wisconsin-Superior’s Jack Boschert (during his time with the Walpole Express) and Mat Gover last season. In his juniors career, Girard was a perennial 0.920+ save percentage goalie, and with the experience he accumulated last season, he will be looked to as MCLA’s starter, a daunting role as Gover led the nation in saves in 2023-24 and 2024-25 as MCLA allowed the most shots on goal in the country the last two seasons.
Honestly, if Glosser’s system allows the upperclassmen to turn the corner, this team could find themselves competing for the MASCAC championship for a second consecutive season. However, after the abrupt coaching change, another single-digit win total this season doesn’t feel like an option for this group. They have the talent in the room to take a massive step forward before the playoffs this season, it’s just a matter if the program has the right coach for the job.
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