A Glimpse Into the Future: Robert Cronin Faces Tyler Muszelik

Robert Cronin 2021 UNH Commit

Tyler Muszelik 2022 UNH Commit

Winning college hockey championships requires goal scorers and an elite goalie. Looking down the road, UNH hopes to have both. Next August, right shot forward ROBERT CRONIN will turn 21 and enroll at the University of New Hampshire. In his second season with the Dubuque Fighting Saints, Cronin is one of the top goal scorers in the United States Hockey League. His 18 goals in 35 games puts him in a tie for 6th in USHL goal-scoring. Six of the goals have come on the Fighting Saints' power play, good enough for a tie for 5th in USHL power play goals.

If all goes according to plan, the 2022-23 season will see the arrival of TYLER MUSZELIK, the first goalie from the elite United States National Team Development Program (NTDP) to play for UNH. The 6'2", 187 lbs., left-catch goalie from Long Valley, New Jersey, who turns 17 in July, has played in roughly half of the NTDP U-17 games. The U-17's play a total of 30 games against United States Hockey League opponents. The average age of USHL players is 18 and 1/2 years old. In 11 USHL games to date, Muszelik has posted a 5-5-1 record. His goals against average in USHL games is 4.82 with a save percentage of .860. These stats are comparable to the other two U-17 goalies.

Last night was a rare opportunity to watch Robert Cronin and the Fighting Saints face Tyler Muszelik and the NTDP U-17 (Team USA). The teams were tied 4-4 after regulation and after the 5-minute, 3-on-3 overtime period. Cronin had 3 shots on goal but no points and Muszelik faced 38 shots on goal and made 34 saves. Up for grabs were 2 points for a shootout win.

Lane Huston (BU commit) struck first for Team USA. Then came Robert Cronin with a head-to-head matchup against Tyler Muszelik. Cronin snapped a wrister over Muszelik's blocker to tie it up.



Maddox Fleming (Notre Dame commit) put Team USA back in front. That set the stage for Muszelik to face Matthew Savoie, Dubuque's leading scorer (14G, 11A, 22Games, 1.14Pt/Game). Neutral Zone scouting service rates Savoie a 5-Star prospect, their highest possible rating. As the video highlight shows, Muszelik moved laterally to his right preventing a straight on shot from Savoie then knocked away his backhand attempt.

Cutter Gauthier, a Boston College commit, sealed the win for Team USA with the third straight shootout goal. The U-17 and U-18 NTDP teams each play 30 USHL games. Overall, Team USA is the 4th place team in the USHL's Eastern Conference and Dubuque is 10 points behind in 5th place. The teams play a rematch tonight.