Pontarelli joins incoming class

by Ryan Fay

Add one more player to list of incoming men's hockey recruits.

Michael Pontarelli, who most recently played for the Central Canada Hockey League's Cornwall Colts, will debut with the Dutchmen this fall. The highly-touted forward was scheduled to arrive for the 2014-2015 campaign, but the door opened to come a year early when Josh Jooris gave up his senior season and signed with the Calgary Flames on July 30.

Pontarelli (icelevel.com)

The 5-foot-8, 187-pound Pontarelli dominated in 53 games with the Colts last season. Despite missing the start of the season with mono, he led the circuit with 52 goals, 14 more than any other player. His 107 points also paced the league while his 55 assists ranked fifth. He was a major weapon on the power-play, finishing third in the league with 17 power-play tallies.

Pontarelli, a native of Laval, Quebec, was a big reason why Cornwall won the CCHL championship, netting 26 points (15 goals, 11 assists) in 19 postseason contests.

The forward ended up with more hardware on his shelf than a hardware store, skating away with the Canadian Junior Hockey League (CJHL) Most Valuable Player award, the CJHL Top Forward award, the CCHL MVP, and the CCHL Sportsmanship and Ability Award.

Pontarelli, 19, figures to be a welcome addition to a team that will be looking to replace four 25-plus point scorers. In addition to Jooris, the fourth-leading scorer on last year's team with 28 points, the Dutchmen graduated Wayne Simpson (36 points), Kyle Bodie (33 points), and Greg Coburn (28 points). Simpson and Bodie were Union's top two scorers last year and Coburn was tied for fourth with Jooris.

Pontarelli tweeted his intention to return for a second season with Cornwall earlier this summer after a chance to play with the U.S Hockey League's Muskegon Lumberjacks didn't come together. The Lumberjacks traded up to select Pontarelli in the fifth round of the 2013 USHL draft.

Joining Pontarelli in this season's nine-member freshman class are forward Alex Gonye, defenseman Noah Henry, defenseman Matt Krug, forward Eli Lichtenwald, defenseman Griffyn Martin, goaltender Alex Sakellaropoulos, defenseman Jeff Taylor and forward Mike Vecchione.

RELATED: Dutchmen wasted little time calling on Pontarelli

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