BOYS HOCKEY: Rochester United looks to heat up on ice
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
ROCHESTER HILLS — No one can call Rochester United an infant boys hockey program anymore.
The combined hockey team for Rochester and Rochester Adams is now in its 11th season and well rooted in the area prep scene.
United, which doesn’t have a traditional nickname, is off to one of its best starts, going 6-3-0 heading into the Christmas break, 1-1-0 in a wide-open OAA Red Division race.
“I think we have played really well considering we had to face a ton of adversity in the first month of the season,” said Craig Staskowski, RU’s second-year coach. “We have a lot of talent on this team.
“We lost our best defensemen for (disciplinary reasons) and another one of our top defensemen has been out with an injury. Then one of our best players broke his collar bone,” added Staskowski. “We have most of our top players back from last season and we’ve added some nice new players from (travel) teams that have helped us become a better team. We just need to get everyone back.”
United began in 2002-03 as a combined team of the three Rochester high schools —Rochester, Rochester Adams and Rochester Stoney Creek. In 2006, Stoney Creek split off its own team with Adams and Rochester continuing on as Rochester United.
The Program finally broke through with some modest postseason success in 2009 after being knocked out in the first or second round the first six seasons. United won three regional games and the program’s first-ever regional title before eventually falling to Howell in the Division 1 state quarterfinals that season.
In 2010, United reached the regional finals before falling in overtime to state powerhouse Orchard Lake St. Mary’s (3-2). The program is 5-10 all-time in postseason games.
In the current coaches association Division 1 state rankings, United has bounced around the top 10, reaching as high as No. 8 this young season. The team already owns a 2-1 victory over 2011 D-1 state champion Novi, along with wins over Stoney Creek (5-2), Farmington Hills Unified (5-0), Painesdale-Jeffers (7-2), 2012 D-2 state runner-up Grosse North (4-3) and Mattawan.
The losses came against Clarkston (6-4), which came after a 13-day layoff, D-3 second-ranked Houghton (3-2), on a goal in the waning moments, and to D-1 state-ranked Northville (4-2).
“We’ve played a brutal schedule. We wanted to play the toughest schedule we could in order to prepare us for the playoffs,” noted Staskowski. “I feel we have done that. It’s going to get even tougher here in January.”
United will have to go without the services for the time being of sophomore forward Marshall Bowery, who suffered a broken collar bone early in the season and will be out until mid-February at the earliest.
Senior Richard Pollino and sophomore Max Harper, also a varsity baseball player at Rochester High, are two key forwards, along with junior Evan Asuncion. Senior newcomer Nick Marek is a top defensemen, while juniors Brody Blair and Kyler Patenaude give Rochester United one of the better goaltender tandems in the state.
“I think once we can get everyone back, then I believe we have a chance to be a better team than last year,” said Staskowski. “We have the potential to be very good.”
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