By Warren Kozireski —
Sophomore Jacob Mucitelli played only 8:34 minutes in his freshman season with Clarkson University. With one weekend remaining prior to the holiday break, he and his freshman teammate Brady Parker have yielded every game and minute to Nashville Predators draft pick Ethan Haider for the nationally ranked Golden Knights.
But that hasn’t deterred Mucitelli or made him question his decision to stay close to home to play college hockey.
“Last year was a little bit different for everyone, but I think we had a lot more older guys and they kind of took the reins and as a freshman I had to learn the ropes and see what the culture is all about,” Mucitelli said in early December.
“We basically have one starter right now, but they see the work I put in keeps me going. I’ve got a lot of family and a lot of encouragement behind me so I just keep my head on straight and look for an opportunity to get a chance in net.
The 6’3”, 188 lb. netminder played the 2017-18 season in Lake Placid at Northwood Prep before heading to the USHL and the Lincoln Stars for two seasons. The second of those two campaigns put him in on many recruitment lists as he won 14 of 31 games with a 3.37 goals against average.
“I went to prep school not too far from here and it was kind of similar to here—not too big. It’s a tight community, which I think was the main attraction and it’s a bonus with the family being so close, but I’m here to play hockey and win a national championship.”
“I was going to stay for my senior year in Northwood, but I had a lot of calls and texts from people interested in me coming out to play in the USHL. I kind of took my chance.
“The first year was kind of tough but the second year was a lot better. We were top five in the conference and that boosted my confidence a lot.”
Now the former Whitesboro High student awaits his opportunity in Clarkson working every day in practice to earn the confidence of his teammates when the chance comes.
And the bonus is that he has had a front row seat as Clarkson hockey celebrates their 100th anniversary season.
“We’ve had a lot of alumni come by and we sat down with them upstairs and had lunch. They talked about their experience here and the culture that they pretty much built for us to follow, so it’s been a great experience for them to come back and for us to meet all of them.”
(Clarkson’s Men’s Hockey Photo)
