by Arch Ecker
Taking thousands of pucks off the noggin as a high level goalie hasn\’t impaired RoadRunner alumnus Bryce Merriam at all. As a freshman at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the Business & Management major was named to the 2009-10 ECAC Hockey All-Academic team.
According to the ECAC website, \”One hundred eighty-one student-athletes representing the ECAC Hockey\’s 12 men\’s programs were named to the 2009-10 ECAC Hockey All-Academic team.\” Being named to the All-Academic team is no cakewalk. Players are eligible for the All-Academic team if they earn a cumulative grade point average of at least a 3.00 on a 4.00 scale or have a GPA over 3.00 over the past three semesters.
Merriam\’s successes in the classroom were paired with a respectable freshman campaign on the ice. He appeared in 8 games, posting a 4-4-0 record, along with a 3.25 goals against average and a .878 save percentage.
As a RoadRunner, Merriam went 59-20-11, including an amazing 22-4-4 run in his final year of juniors. He holds a number of RoadRunner franchise goalie records, including games played (93), wins (59), single season GAA (2.00), single season save pct (.917), and career shutouts (9).