Elyria Catholic graduate Mike Haszto, who plays hockey for the University of Central Oklahoma of the American Collegiate Hockey Association, was named an Academic All-American.

Haszto, a senior, is majoring in Economics and was recently named Economist of the Year at the university.

Haszto is President of the Delta Mu Delta Academic Fraternity for the second year, as well as Student President of the Business College at UCO.

Haszto played four seasons at Central Oklahoma for the Bronchos, finishing among the tops in several categories at UCO. This past season, he was tied for third on the team in goals (10), and was second in power play goals (4). He finishes his career there with 38 goals (18 power play goals) and 22 assists for 60 points. He tallied 196 penalty minutes and was a leader each season in the +/- statistic.

The Bronchos, during Haszto's four seasons, reached the National Tournament (Top 16) twice, achieving the Final Four in 2009-2010, when they fell to the eventual champion. They finished that season ranked fourth nationally.

Haszto’s claim to fame at the school was scoring the first goal in the program’s history.

Haszto was a standout defenseman for the Elyria Catholic Panthers, under Coach Dave Phiel, attaining several awards through his high school career. He went on to play on the Junior level with the Queen City Cutthroats and Phoenix Polar Bears (where he played twice for national championships), as well as in the NAHL with the Helena Bighorns and Youngstown Phantoms.

While he has invitations for professional tryouts at the minor league level, his current plans are to graduate and go on to graduate school at the University of Oklahoma.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Elyria Catholic’s Mike Haszto is having the time of his life playing for the University of Central Oklahoma’s hockey team.

On Tuesday night, the No. 10 Bronchos pulled off another upset, defeating the No. 2 Nittany Lions of Penn State, 2-1 in overtime at the Edge Ice Arena in Bensenville, Illinois.

Trailing 1-0 and the Nittany Lions going all out to kill the clock for the win, UCO defenseman Nick Novak blasted a shot into the back of the net. Shawn Steggles got the assist on that game-tying goal with just 1:29 left in regulation.

An unassisted tally 1:42 in overtime from Jonathon Cannizzo gave UCO its second straight upset win and sent them to the national semifinals.

Central Oklahoma advances to the tournament semifinals next Tuesday evening at the Edge. Their opponent will be determined after the four semifinalists are reseeded.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Elyria Catholic’s Mike Haszto scored a goal and assisted on another to help lead No. 10 Central Oklahoma to a 5-4 win over No. 7 Oklahoma in double overtime on Saturday night.

Haszto, who was switched to right wing for the past seven games, came through again and has tallied three goals and two assists since the change. His sixth goal of the season on Saturday broke a 2-2 tie late in the second period, as he stuffed a rebound from his own shot past a sprawling Sooner goalkeeper.

UCO, who improved to 25-12-2, will now play in the ACHA College Hockey Division I Tournament against No. 2 Penn State, a 7-3 winner over No. 15 SUNY-Canton earlier in the day.

swalker@MorningJournal.com

Elyria Catholic’s Mike Haszto just finished a super sophomore season on the ice, playing hockey for Central Oklahoma, who won a school-best 24 games this season in just its third season with hockey.


The Bronchos’ season ended last week with a consolation round win over ninth ranked Robert Morris (PA) in which Haszto scored a goal. This win came after being defeated by Illinois in the first round to get eliminated in the American Collegiate Hockey Association tournament.

The tournament bid was Central Oklahoma’s first-ever bid in school history. The Bronchos also reached a Top 10 ranking for the first time, ranking ninth in the fourth ACHA ranking release.

The Illinois win was revenge as the Bronchos upset the Illini, 6-4 during the season to end their 47-game winning streak. The game before, Illinois defeated Central Oklahoma, 4-3 in a thriller. Haszto scored key goals and had assists in that series.

The season also included big wins over ranked teams such as Ohio, Oklahoma, Iowa State and Rhode Island, who were all in the National Tournament. The Bronchos even took this year's champions, Lindenwood, to a shootout.

In a 11-game stretch, Haszto scored seven goals, including a game-winning goal in a 2-1 win and a game-tying goal in a 6-2 win to sweep a series over Arizona State.

swalker@MorningJournal.com