The Minnesota Midshipmen

The Minnesota Midshipmen (l-r): Derek Frawley, Matt Metzdorff, Charlie Steveken, Joel Pinedo and Cole Maetzold.

Last Updated on Wednesday, 22 May 2013 15:28

 Five hockey-playing Minnesota natives are challenging themselves on and off the ice at the United States Naval Academy

 

By Kevin Kurtt
Let’s Play Hockey Editor
 

The alarm calls the college hockey player out of his dorm room bed at 6:30 a.m. He gets dressed, doing his best to look good for himself and his classmates.

After some morning studying, it’s off to the dining hall for breakfast. Then it’s time for class, followed by lunch and some additional study time. More classes wrap up the academic day. 

The afternoon hours are taken up by hockey practice, other organized activities and maybe a little free time. Dinner follows with a last bout of studying before the lights go out around midnight.

It looks like the typical day for a dedicated student-athlete at a top U.S. university.

But this isn’t just your run-of-the-mill liberal arts college. It’s not Harvard, Yale or Dartmouth. It’s not the University of Minnesota, Wisconsin or Michigan.

This is the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., and the college hockey player is a member of the Brigade of Midshipmen.

Founded in 1845, the U.S. Naval Academy, or Navy as it is known in the world of college athletics, is a four-year federal service academy. Candidates for admission both apply directly to the academy and receive a nomination, usually from a Member of Congress.

Students, known as midshipmen, are officers-in-training for an active-duty service obligation of a minimum of five years, and their tuition, room and board are fully funded by the U.S. Navy. Upon graduation, the majority of midshipmen are commissioned as ensigns in the Navy or second lieutenants in the Marine Corps.

According to the U.S. Naval Academy (USNA) website, “The duties of Navy and Marine Corps officers often require long, strenuous hours in difficult situations. The Naval Academy therefore teaches the importance of being physically fit and prepared for stressful situations. The physical requirements of Plebe Summer training, four years of physical education and year-round athletics also develop pride, teamwork and leadership. “

The “year-round athletics” part is where we meet the Minnesota Midshipmen, a quintet of five natives of Minnesota who chose to attend the Naval Academy and play hockey for the blue and gold. Freshmen Derek Frawley (Minnetonka), Cole Maetzold (St. Michael), Matt Metzdorff (Waseca) and Joel Pinedo (Hopkins), and sophomore Charlie Steveken (St. Paul) are members of the Navy hockey team that competes at the Division 1 level of the American Collegiate Hockey Association, better known as college club hockey.

Much like their friends back home, hockey is important to these five Minnesotans, but it is secondary to their desire to challenge themselves academically, physically, mentally, morally and emotionally within the context of service to their county.

“I wanted to be involved with something bigger than myself and to do something special with my life,” Maetzold said.

To do that, Maetzold and his fellow plebes (as freshmen are known at Navy) will have to endure a demanding four-year program that will, according to the mission of the Naval Academy, “develop midshipmen morally, mentally and physically and to imbue them with the highest ideals of duty, honor and loyalty in order to graduate leaders who are dedicated to a career of naval service and have potential for future development in mind and character to assume the highest responsibilities of command, citizenship and government.”

All midshipmen begin their Navy career with Plebe Summer, a challenging seven-week program designed to turn civilians into midshipmen. The newest members of the Fourth Class – the lowest rank of midshipmen – are put into uniform and taught by the First Class how to act as sailors in a frantic, exhausting pace. Plebe Summer indoctrinates the new midshipmen into Navy life with a wide-ranging course that intends to teach self-discipline, time management, conditioning, leadership, teamwork and many other desired characteristics of a naval officer.

Following Plebe Summer, the academic year begins but the demands on a plebe do not. Before even making it to class, however, plebes must conform to a number of rules not placed on their older classmates.

“You learn really fast that you’re on the bottom of the totem pole,” Pinedo said. “You chop [short, quick-time steps] in the hallway. You’re saying ‘sir or ma’am’ at all times. You’re memorizing random facts; memorizing the menu for the week. It’s the job of the upper class to train us.”

The demands on all midshipmen continue in the classroom with a challenging core curriculum that includes courses in engineering, science, math, humanities and social science. Their education continues further with nearly constant moral, leadership and professional training.

“The hardest part of the experience is that there are million things to do with hardly any time to get them done,” Metzdorff said. “The time management aspect is the most challenging. You learn what’s important and what’s not. They call it a leadership lab for a reason.”

“It’s a challenge,” Maetzold said. “The days are really long with classes and homework. Then there’s hockey on top of all that.”

 

 

At 3:30 every afternoon, the Navy hockey players board a bus for the Brigade Sports Complex, home of the McMullen Hockey Arena. For the next two hours, they trade the uniform of a midshipman for the pads and jersey of a hockey player.

“The best part is coming to the rink every day,” Metzdorff said. “I forget for a while that I’m a plebe. I’m playing hockey, doing something I love.”

Led by Edina, Minn., native Mike Fox, the Navy hockey program is treated like a varsity sport on campus. As a “top-tier” club sport at USNA, Navy hockey’s goal is “to compete with the best teams in the country for a national championship,” Fox said.

“The two hours the players spend at the rink isn’t a cakewalk,” assistant coach and Apple Valley, Minn., native Scott Steele said. “This is a real hockey program with good hockey players.”

Navy’s complete roster has 37 players from 23 different states and one player from Okinawa, Japan. The lineup is full of high school, prep school and junior hockey captains, state and national champions, and multi-sport stars. Many had offers to play hockey or other sports at colleges and universities throughout the U.S., but chose instead to attend Navy and play hockey.

Competing at the ACHA Division 1 level since the association’s inception in 1992, Navy has seen continual improvement, leading to a high-water mark (pun intended) during the 2012 season. Navy posted a 28-5-1 record, winning the Eastern Collegiate Hockey Association regular season title and claiming its first bid to the national tournament. The Midshipmen finished the regular season ranked No. 15 before falling 5-3 to No. 18 Rutgers in the first round of the ACHA Men’s Division 1 National Tournament.

For the Minnesota Midshipmen, playing hockey has added to the overall Naval Academy experience. It’s an important aspect of life in Annapolis for these Minnesota boys.

“I couldn’t imagine not playing hockey,” Steveken said. “Hockey was definitely a plus in my decision to come to the Naval Academy. You make such strong relationships with the guys here. The guys on the team are my best friends.”

“It’s great coming to the rink and hanging out with your best friends, the people we have the most interaction with, our teammates,” Maetzold said. “It’s always kind of sad going back over the bridge [to the Academy.]”

Going back over the bridge may jolt the hockey players back to reality, but it’s a reality that each of them willingly sought out and accepted.

“Hockey has always been just a sport for me and my family,” Frawley said. “It’s fun playing hockey. A lot of Minnesota kids see it as a career. I came here for the Navy experience.”

“I came here to better myself,” Pinedo said. “Being here has given me self-purpose. I know once I get out, I’ll be making a difference in no matter what I do.”

The Minnesota Midshipmen will be making a difference in a few short years, whether it’s Metzdorff aboard a submarine, Frawley and Steveken as Marine Corps officers, or Maetzold and Pinedo making a dream come true by becoming Navy pilots. Wherever they end up after graduating from the Naval Academy, one thing is certain: They are defined by more than just their status as college hockey players.

“These are people that hold things higher than themselves,” Steele said. “They have goals and dreams that are far loftier than most of the rest of us. We should all appreciate the sacrifices that these guys are making.”

Go Navy! Beat Army!

 

 

The Minnesota Midshipmen

Derek Frawley
Freshman
Forward
Minnetonka, Minn.
Minnetonka HS
Chose the Naval Academy “for the opportunity to get a great education and to follow his family’s legacy of Naval service.”

Cole Maetzold
Freshman
Defenseman
St. Michael, Minn.
Culver Military Academy
Chose the Naval Academy “for the opportunity to serve something bigger than myself and to do something special with my life.”

Matt Metzdorff
Freshman
Forward
Waseca, Minn.
Waseca HS
Chose the Naval Academy “to honor the legacy of a strong tradition of military service in my country while getting the best leadership and academic training in the world at the same time.”

Joel Pinedo
Freshman
Defenseman
Hopkins, Minn.
The Blake School
Chose the Naval Academy “for the chance to do something greater than me, to serve my country and for the opportunity to earn one of the best educations in the nation.”

Charlie Steveken
Sophomore
Forward
Mendota Heights, Minn.
St. Thomas Academy
Chose the Naval Academy “to become a better leader, to get a great education and to be prepared for the professional world.”

Head Coach Mike Fox
Edina, Minn.

Assistant Coach Scott Steele
Apple  Valley, Minn.