On Saturday, the West Virginia hockey will play their last home game against Indiana University of Pennsylvania at 4:00pm EST. Five seniors will be graduating and will be honored during Saturday’s game.
WVU hockey: who, what, when, and where
As the ACHA hockey season winds down, West Virginia hockey will play its last home game of the season at the Morgantown Ice Rink on Saturday. They will be facing the Indiana University of Pennsylvania Crimson Hawks with puck drop at 4:00 pm.
The Mountaineers (8-19-1) are currently ranked No. 49 according to AHCA’s most recent rankings whereas IUP (20-7-1) is sitting at No. 8. Notably, five of the Mountaineers’ eight wins are home wins.
West Virginia hockey’s senior class
Because this will be WVU’s last home game of the season, the Mountaineers will be honoring a total of five graduating seniors on the Division one team and six from the division two team. Here is who will be honored on Saturday:
Wyatt Murphy: Forward (#50)
Murphy is originally from Little Canada, Minnesota, and has played at West Virginia for four seasons. In his rookie season, Murphy played 24 games, scoring eight goals and five assists. In his farewell season, Murphy has played 25 games with nine points (7G, 2A). He was also named a captain last season.
Dmitri Jukus: Forward (#23)
The Maryland native was quite the athlete for the Mountaineers. Jukus played a total of 84 games With the Mountaineers. During his collegiate career, Jukus has racked up a total of 38 points, nine of which from this season. Alongside other seniors, he was named a captain.
Geoff Stokes: Defense (#56)
As a powerful defenseman, Stokes was dominant. Playing 67 games in four years at WVU, he leads the Mountaineers in penalty minutes by over ten minutes (62 minutes total) and even has two goals this season.
Baptiste Vernieuwe: Forward (#40)
Vernieuwe’s hockey career originated in France but he moved to the United States in 2018 when he enrolled at WVU. This season alone, Vernieuwe has nine points (4G, 5A) with two game-winning goals. The clutch forward has played a total of 58 games in four seasons and was named a captain last season.
Ben Gruber: Goalie (#1)
Before playing ACHA hockey at WVU, Gruber was playing in Washington. In his four years with WVU hockey, Gruber played in 12 games. Half of those games were played this season, where he recorded 116 total saves.
the Mountaineers’ division two seniors
In addition to the seniors on the division one roster, the Mountaineers will also be honoring the following seniors on the division two team: Kyle Bellemore, Tyler Piatt, Ty Buckley, James Beale, Alex Evans, and John Sabol.