From Virden Empire-Advance
By Robin Wark
Last season it was mission accomplished for Oak Lake’s Riley Wallace and the Minot State University men’s hockey team.
The son of Tod and Penny Wallace helped the North Dakota school squad win the American Collegiate Hockey Association Division I national championship. In Marlborough, Mass. In March, No. 1 MSU beat No. 3 Adrian College, 1-0, to claim its third national championship.
“I think the best part about nationals was getting the job done and winning 1-0 to become national champions,” said Wallace, who was the backup goaltender for the championship tilt. “Hoisting the Murdoch Cup, celebrating with your teammates/brothers, coaches, parents. It was a feeling that took a while to sink in but once it did it was a moment I will never forget.”
The championship completed an impressive season for the Beavers. The squad went 35-3-0.
“I think what I liked the most about this championship season was the group of guys we had,” Wallace said. “Right away, from early August, we all bonded and we’re like brothers and that’s what creates a winning team.”
The 5-foot-9, 150-pound netminder certainly played a role in the team’s success. In nine appearances, he was 8-0. Head coach Wyatt Waselenchuk said that Wallace, who battled an injury early in the season, and Jake Anthony formed a formidable tandem.
“(Wallace) is a 1B, if you will, because he and Jake are both starters,” the coach said. “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t lose a lot of sleep this season over who was going to play.”
While Antony ended up starting the most games, Wallace played an important role.
“Having that guy there to push every day in practice and play some big, big games for us – you need that,” Waselenchuk said. “You need that in the tournament. You need that in big weekends where maybe you let one slip Friday and you want to go with a little bit of a change on Saturday. He’s meant so much to us as a team to have two of those guys who can go on any given night.”
Wallace posted a .924 save percentage. He had a team-best 1.65 goals against average.
“He’s really calm … His positioning is really, really good,” Waselenchuk said. “His rebound control is solid. He’s calm back there whether we’re throwing him into a game at Liberty or at Ohio, like we did this season. He doesn’t really seem to get flustered. He’s a confident kid. He’s played at some really good levels with some high-end teams. He’s just kind of unflappable.”
In the junior ranks, the goalie suited up for the Virden Oil Capitals of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League and the Columbia Valley Rockies, an Invermere, B.C. team in the Kootenay International Hockey League. Waselenchuk praised Wallace for being a good teammate.
“He’s a really well-liked guy in the dressing room. … He was a really, really good teammate down the stretch,” the coach said.
Wallace, Anthony and Tre Sortland came together as a netminding group to help each other.
“Our goaltending core is awesome, and we all get along great, which is huge in hockey,” Wallace said. “Each day we get to the rink and try to push each other as hard we can to make each other better.”
Off the ice at MSU, Wallace is also succeeding. In his time at the university, he has been named to the Vice President for Academic Affairs’ Honour Roll and the President’s List. Wallace is majoring in corporate fitness with minors in business management and coaching.
“This field interested me as I want to be a future coach and also include athletic training into that as well,” he said.
Wallace appreciates what his family has done for him so that he can pursue the game he loves.
“My family has given me great support over the years – traveling down to Minot to watch me play, from basically living on Hockey TV flipping back between my games and my bother’s (Hunter, who played in Alberta last season) and never missing a game. Can’t thank them enough.”
(Originally published at https://www.empireadvance.ca/local-news/wallace-helps-msu-win-national-title-7377391)
