(Submitted photo/Melfort Mustangs)

By Ben Tompkins

Hometown Star

Somers becomes second Mustang to commit to NCAA Divsion I

Jan 12, 2023 | 3:15 PM

The Melfort Mustangs’ hometown boy will be playing NCAA Division-I hockey for his post-secondary career.

Zac Somers, forward from Melfort, has committed to the University of Maine Black Bears.

This marks the second time this season the organization has had one of their players commit to Division I, after linemate Riley Ashe did so, last month.

“I am extremely proud to commit to Maine and further my hockey career in Division I,” said Somers. “I have had great conversations with their staff, and they have shown great interest in me as a hockey player. They have an excellent program and I can’t wait to get down there.”

As a 17-year-old rookie last season, Somers played in 47 games, scoring 5 goals and adding eight assists, while also scoring once in four playoff games.

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The 2004-born forward has since seen significant improvement, as he currently leads his team in points.

Through just 27 games so far this season, he’s scored 17 times and added 14 helpers, for a total of 31 points.

That currently has him sitting in a tie for 14th in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL), and tops among 2004-born skaters.

Meanwhile, earlier this year, Somers also missed a couple of weeks of action, after representing Team Canada West at the World Junior A Challenge, where he scored the game-winning goal against Team USA on Dec. 11.

Prior to his time as a Mustang, he remained close to home, after spending the COVID-shortened 2020/2021 season with the Tisdale Trojans.

Before that, in his first year of U18 hockey, Somers joined the Prairie Hockey Academy U16 Prep team, scoring 30 points in 36 games.

And, the local boy also played his two seasons of U15 hockey locally, suiting up for the North East Wolf Pack U15 AA squad, scoring 89 points in 69 games across the regular season and playoffs.

As for the University of Maine Black Bears, they play out of Orono, Maine in the Hockey East Conference.

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter @BenTompkins_8