It certainly seemed longer than it actually took for him, but Hilton native and freshman Nate Mann scored his first collegiate goal February 16 on home ice for Nazareth University’s men’s hockey against Chatham.
Photo by Jamie Germano.
“Obviously it felt really nice to finally get the monkey off my back, but the boys have really been supporting me all season,” Mann said.
The 6’3”, 180 left wing has been contributing offensively to the Golden Flyers attack, racking up eight assists over the first 16 games.
“I’m glad the coaching staff put me in the role they did this year. We haven’t had the greatest year and bounces haven’t gone our way, but it’s good to get into the playoffs to go out and see what we have.”
Nazareth earned the eighth and final seed for the UCHC postseason and were set to face top-seed and nationally ranked Utica in the first round.
Mann spent five seasons developing in the Buffalo Jr. Sabres program and was part of them winning a 15-U National Championship. He then went to the North American Hockey League (NAHL) for three full campaigns bouncing from Aberdeen to El Paso to Minot over two seasons before spending the 2022-23 year with Lone Star where he registered 22 points over 50 games.
“I bounced around because several weren’t a great fit, but it was great to spend the whole season in Lone Star with a coach that liked my game.”
The just turned 22-year-old then waited as long as he could for a Division I college hockey offer before committing to Nazareth last summer.
“He’s played really well for us here,” Nazareth head coach George Roll said. “He’s dealt with some injuries and missed some games, but he’s had so many chances to score, and I know he’s been frustrated. But these last few games have been his best and again tonight that line I thought was great with the three freshmen (Kai Shen and Cole Bauman).
“They have such good speed…and then Nate’s such a hard-working kid down low that can create loose pucks for the other two and hit them in stride. As long as they play that way and create chances, that’s all we can ask for.”
After all those seasons of the family EZPass getting overused on the Thruway, at 6:09 of the first period, Mann scored with an assist from Bauman. After the celebration Mann led his teammates toward the Nazareth bench for glove taps while Golden Flyers junior captain Jeremy Swartz (Rochester) remembered to grab the puck…to help Mann and his family celebrate this memory for years.
