The Norwich Guidon - Norwich University Student Newspaper

Senior hockey team members cap NU career with two national NCAA wins

By Ronnel Daniels
Norwich Guidon Sports Editor
and Mike Legere
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer

For many senior athletes who will graduate this year, the dream of winning two national championships is generally illusive. But for this year's graduating Norwich seniors, who played hockey for the Cadets from their freshman year to their senior, the feat of winning two championships is not only a reality, it is one of a kind.

Seniors Randy Hevey, from Chicopee, Mass; Lynn Beetle, from Bethlehem, Penn; Marshall Lee, from Calgary, Alberta; Jon Bokelmann from Centerport, N.Y.; Peter Catalona from Goffstown, NH; and senior captain Toza Crnilovic, from Toronto, Canada, are the recipients of this great honor.

Crnilovic's slapshot from the blueline made the difference as Norwich University posted a 2-1 come from behind win over Oswego State in the NCAA Division III National Championship game. Before a sellout crowd at Kreitzberg Arena on Saturday night, Norwich claimed its second title, and the seniors on the team earned their second ring.

Crnilovic one-timed a shot from the left point after Phil Aucoin pulled a draw back to him. Crnilovic's shot slid just inside the far post to put the Cadets on top for good at 7:01 of the third period.

"There's no better feeling than getting that last goal," Crnilovic said. "Coach told us a couple of weeks ago, 'You guys get all the pretty goals, but I want some garbage goals,' and that's exactly what that was. I put it on net, and it just happened to go in."

Marshall Lee, one of the members of the 2000 National championship team stated that, back in 2000 he was a freshman, and roles were different.

Lee said that "with this championship and it being my senior year, I wanted to go out winning the championship. It's a little bit more riding on your season, and winning the championship this year means the world; I can't even put it into words."

With their second championship at Norwich, the graduating class of 2003 hockey players have set the bar very high for the classes to follow.

The seniors on the team will be designing the championship rings, which will have two stones in it to represent the two championships that they won while at Norwich.

"This is the best feeling that a player can have, throwing your gloves up and celebrating with the boys, it's just an immense feeling," Lee said.

Back to Guidon index

The Norwich Guidon, student newspaper of Norwich University, is published twice monthly and has won numerous awards for excellence in its class. Reporters, editors, and managers for The Norwich Guidon are students at the university who work under the guidance of a Communications faculty advisor. Student editors learn electronic pagination using state of the art computer equipment. If you have any questions or comments about the paper, please contact Professor Ken Bush at kbush@norwich.edu.