The Merritt Centennials have announced the NCAA commitment of forward Zach Risteau to the St. Lawrence University Saints for the 2018-19 season.
“We’re happy for Zach and his family on making this decision,” said Cents GM and Head Coach Joe Martin. “Zach has had a tremendous rookie campaign for us and we look forward to a similar effort from him in the playoffs.”
The 18-year-old leads the Centennials in scoring this season with 48 points (25 goals, 23 assists) in 48 games. He leads the team in power-play goals and is tied for third in power-play assists. Risteau also has 13 multiple-point games this season.
“St. Lawrence is a great school and with Zach’s commitment, he’ll join (fellow Cents forward) Cade Gleekel there in two years. Our entire organization would like to congratulate Zach on this excellent accomplishment,” added Martin.
The Lakeville, Minn. native is an alumni of Benilde-St. Margaret’s School, where Risteau played three seasons from 2013-16. He had 98 points (49 goals, 49 assists) in 93 career U.S. high school games.
Risteau is the sixth player on this season’s Centennials roster to secure an NCAA scholarship, joining Tyler Ward (University of Denver), Zach Court (University of Nebraska-Omaha), Cade Gleekel (St. Lawrence University), Zach Metsa (Quinnipiac University), and Michael Regush (Cornell University).
St. Lawrence University is located in Canton, N.Y. and was founded in 1856. The Saints men’s hockey team competes in the NCAA’s ECAC Hockey conference along with Yale, Cornell, Clarkson, Quinnipiac, Harvard, Princeton, Brown, RPI, Colgate, Dartmouth and Union. Notable programs alumni include Mike Keenan, Bill Torrey, Ray Shero, Mike Barnett, Jacques Martin, and Rich Peverley.
