USHL Youngstown Phantoms

Phantoms' Berkle Locks Into Northeastern University

Published on April 30, 2010 under United States Hockey League (USHL)
Youngstown Phantoms News Release


YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - With a member of the Youngstown Phantoms' past already committed to play hockey for Northeastern University, a key part of the team's future has also decided to join the Huskies' cause.

Forward Adam Berkle, already named next season's team captain by Head Coach/GM Curtis Carr, will join former Phantoms defenseman Luke Eibler at Northeastern's Boston campus in the fall of 2011. Eibler will report to school for the upcoming semester in August.

"[Northeastern has] been talking to me for a couple of years now and I always felt like that was where I wanted to go," said Berkle. "I kind of had my mind made up to go to Northeastern before [Eibler] committed, but it'll be nice to have someone I know there."

Berkle, a 6-foot-4 winger from the Philadelphia suburb of Collegeville, Pa., proved to be one of Youngstown's most reliable offensive contributors in his rookie USHL season. One of only three Phantoms to play in all 60 regular season games, Berkle tied for the team lead in goals with 17 and placed fifth overall on the squad with 26 points.

"The guys from Northeastern said they liked my aggressiveness, my scoring ability and my size," he said. "[Having the commitment] definitely makes it easier to just go out and play in my last [USHL] season."

The newest Northeastern recruit helped give Youngstown fans an injection of hope with an explosive finish to the team's inaugural season - Berkle netted eight goals and 12 total points in the final 15 games of the slate.

"I'm going to be skating as much as I can," said the lanky 180-pounder about his summer plans. "I'll be working out and trying to gain weight and fill out some more."

Northeastern's program has improved greatly under head coach Greg Cronin. In 2005-06, his first season, the Huskies went 3-24-7 and finished last in the Hockey East conference, but in 2008-09 Cronin's charges posted a 23-9-4 record, placed second in Hockey East and qualified for the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1993-94.

In the recently completed 2009-10 campaign, the Huskies finished a respectable 16-16-2, defeating Harvard for third place in the prestigious Beanpot tournament held at TD Garden in downtown Boston.

The eventual addition of both Berkle and Eibler should increase the Huskies' chances to claim the Beanpot for the first time in more than 20 years. In fact, since winning the get-together for the fourth time in 1987-88 they have only advanced to the championship game of the four-team tourney five times, most recently in 2009.

The 2009-10 version of the Phantoms now has produced 11 players committed to play NCAA Division I hockey. In addition to Berkle and Eibler, Tom Serratore (University of Minnesota), Scott Mayfield (University of Denver), Dave Donnellan (Western Michigan University), Cody Strang (University of Wisconsin), Jefferson Dahl (University of Wisconsin), Stuart Higgins (University of Maine), Brett Gensler (Bentley University), Taylor Holstrom (Mercyhurst College) and Andrej Sustr (University of Nebraska-Omaha) had previously reached deals to further their educations.

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United States Hockey League Stories from April 30, 2010


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