High scoring freshman has been quite a catch for AIC

Click here to read Dick Baker's story on the Republican website.

Freshman Adam Pleskach made a sort of long day trip to get to American International College, but it’s taken him very little time to find his way among the top Division I goal scorers in the nation.

Pleskach has already scored seven goals in nine games for AIC. How encouraging is that? Well, last year senior Chad Richardson finished the season as the team’s leading goal scorer with only nine, and there are still 23 games to go.

The seven goals ties the 6-foot-2, 205-pound Beausejour, Manitoba native with a whole bunch of other talented people for 10th in the nation in goals scored. His name on the United States College Hockey Online website is listed right under and tied with senior Boston College senior star Ben Smith – parts unknown for any recent AIC skaters.

And if Beausejour, Manitoba sounds like parts unknown, it’s a city of about 30,000, and it’s from there that Pleskach made the long drive to start school and hockey at AIC.

“I packed up my car and headed here, it took about 27 or 28 hours,” he said. “I have a 1999 Cavalier, it barely made it.”

And Pleskach barely made it to Division I.

“I always wanted to play college hockey, and so I played four years of junior with that in mind. It wasn’t looking good for awhile, and I was planning to play for a Division III team near home. But I had made tapes of my play, and sent them around, and got my name out there. And then I got the call from (AIC coach) Gary Wright.”

Pleskach recorded 112 points last year for the Selkirk Steelers in the Manitboa Junior League. The Steelers made it to the finals.

At 21, Adam is the youngest of four brothers, all of whom played hockey. He said they don’t pick on their youngest brother anymore.

“That’s because I’m bigger than they are,” he said.

Atlantic Hockey teams may have stopped picking on the Yellow Jackets, who despite a 2-6-1 overall mark, 2-4-1 in the league, are playing very well when you consider that they’ve had only two homes games, both shutout wins.

And this weekend, they have a big home test with two games against tough league foe Canisius (5-6-1, 4-3-1) at the Olympia in West Springfield. The teams meet Friday night at 7:05, and Saturday afternoon at 4:05.

“From what I hear, Canisius is going to be a tough test, they’re supposed to have a better offense than RPI,” Pleskach said.

Pleskach, who plans to major in economics, is enjoying his time at AIC, and is optimistic about the team’s fortunes.

“I think we have everything in place,” he said.

Including in goal, where another freshman, Ben Meisner of Halifax, Nova Scotia, has already recorded two shutouts. No other AIC goaltender has ever recorded two shutouts in one year since the team went Division 1. And as a team, the Yellow Jackets only recorded two shutouts one time – in 2002-03.