Jackson Pierson, UNH True Freshman, Hockey East Rookie of the Week

Jackson Pierson - Hockey East Rookie of the Week
(Photo Credit: Mike Nothnagel)

"(Pierson has been) able to play center in college and to do so seamlessly." Mike Souza, UNH Head Coach, October 24th Press Conference

(Photo Credit: Mike Nothnagel)

When I first saw Jackson Pierson play hockey, he had recently turned 18 years old, was a senior at Culver Military Academy (Indiana), and was competing against kids his own age and younger. That was less than 10 months ago at the 2017 Edward G. Watkins Invitational Tournament at Cushing Academy. Yesterday, Pierson was named Hockey East Rookie of the Week. Needless to say, his transition from high school hockey player to freshman NCAA center has been impressive.

Rapid Progress at Culver Military Academy

Jackson Pierson verbally committed to UNH in Spring, 2017. He was 17 years old and had just completed his junior year season with the Culver Military Academy Eagles Prep team. Culver ended up ranked as the #5 18U Tier 1 team in the nation and Pierson lead the team in scoring with 28 goals and 34 assists in 36 games. Based on his age, size (5'10", 170 lbs.), level of competition (major midget teams), and Neutral Zone rating (3 and 3/4 Stars out of 5), I projected that he would enroll at UNH in the Fall of 2019 or '20. Boy, was I wrong.

Pierson signed a National Letter of Intent with UNH last November during the early signing period. That signaled that the UNH coaches were considering Pierson's matriculation in the Fall of 2019 and possibly 2018. Here are a few video clips of Pierson's play at the 2017 Watkin's Prep Holiday Tournament at Cushing Academy near the end of December, 2017:



Pierson's quickness, anticipation in the offensive zone, and moves to the net were impressive. He was named the Most Valuable Player and Culver won the Watkins/Cushing tournament. In addition, the Culver Prep team became the top ranked U18 Tier 1 team in the United States.

In early March, 2018, Culver Academy won the USA Hockey Mid-American Regional Tournament. Pierson tallied 4 goals and 3 assists in 4 games and upped his season totals to 24 goals and 50 assists in 39 games. A few days later, Mike Souza was officially introduced as the new Head Coach of the UNH Men's Hockey Team. In the press conference at the end of the proceedings, Souza announced that Jackson Pierson would enroll at UNH this Fall.

UNH Hockey Preseason Media Day

I had an opportunity to interview Jackson Pierson at the UNH Media Day on October 3rd. The team had been participating in "Captain's practices" for a few weeks with occasional input from the UNH coaches (per NCAA rules). I asked Jackson about his first structured interactions with older, mostly bigger NCAA hockey players.

Mike Lowry ("C-H-C"): Now that you've had a few weeks of practice with the team, how does your game shape up compared to the upperclassmen? Are there any things that surprised you in terms of how well you're doing? Are there areas where you say this is an area I need to work on?

Jackson Pierson: The game's a lot faster so I'm getting used to the pace. Then there are the little things that you do, you need to bring every day. You have to be more consistent.

Mike Lowry: Coach Souza has talked about the speed of this team with a lot of speed up front and speed on the back end, and focusing on the transition. That's a strong part of your game. Do you think that's going to be an enjoyable aspect of playing at UNH?

Jackson Pierson: It's fun to play fast. It's the reason I came here. Playing fast, moving the puck a lot, that's what I'm looking to do.

First 4 Games on the Road

The 2018-19 UNH Wildcats faced the challenge of playing the first 2 games of the season at Colgate University in Hamilton, NY and the next 2 at Colorado College in Colorado Springs. In the opening game against Colgate, Jackson Pierson scored UNH's first goal of the season on his first official shot in his first NCAA game. It came on a UNH power play in the second period. As the Colgate play-by-play announcer said in this highlight video, Pierson is a "dynamic offensive player":



UNH lost 3 out of 4 games on the road, each by one goal, and tied Colorado 3-3 in the third game. Pierson played center on a line with sophomore Charlie Kelleher on right wing. Sophomore Kohei Sato played on the left wing in the first Colgate game while fellow freshman Angus Crookshank was on left wing in the other three games. Pierson's line was UNH's second in 2 games and the 3rd in the other 2 games. He also played meaningful minutes on UNH's power play.

Pierson notched his first NCAA assist on a nifty backhand pass to Ara Nazarian on a UNH power play in the first period of the 3-4 loss to Colorado College. Overall, he registered 8 shots on goal on the road and compiled a +3 plus/minus statistic.

At the midweek press conference following the Colorado College games, Coach Souza singled out Jackson Pierson's performance:

"We've been very impressed, in the early going, with Jackson Pierson. Being a freshman and a kid right out of high school and to be able to play center in college and to do so seamlessly. Both he and Marcus Vela have done a nice job for us in the middle of the ice."

Win Over Vermont & Hockey East Rookie of the Week

UNH earned it's first win of the season in the home-opener against the University of Vermont last Saturday. Trailing 0-2, the Wildcats scored 2 goals in the third period and won on a Benton Maass goal in overtime. Jackson Pierson scored UNH's first goal immediately after a power play had ended. He slid between the Vermont defenders into the low slot and banged home a centering pass from sophomore Patrick Grasso.

Pierson initiated the overtime, game-winning play by gathering a loose puck on the half-wall in the Vermont zone. He dumped a pass to Kelleher then headed toward the net. Charlie threaded a perfect, cross-ice pass to Benton Maass who sent it home. These video highlights of Jackson Pierson show this exciting goal as well as his goal against Colgate and his two assists.



Hockey East Rookie of the Week Jackson Pierson, and the rest of the UNH Wildcats, return to action this Saturday night at the Whittemore Center against the University of Massachusetts.