Duluth East senior defenseman Meirs Moore said Tuesday on Twitter that he’s made a commitment to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., likely starting in 2014-15.
Moore was named 2013 News Tribune high school boys player of the year. He scored 19 goals and added 30 assists in 2012-13 in leading the Greyhounds to a fifth consecutive Minnesota Class AA tournament. Ten goals came on East’s power play. He was on East’s varsity for three years.
He finished the hockey season playing nine games for Sioux City (Iowa) in the U.S. Hockey League and is expected to be with the Musketeers in 2013-14.
“Meirs is one of the best defensemen that I’ve ever coached,” longtime East coach Mike Randolph told the News Tribune in April.
Randolph lauded Moore’s hockey instincts, a quick first stride and excellent passing and shooting skills.
“He has a lot of ability to get you out of your zone and, once you get into the (opponents’) zone, he creates a lot of offense,” said Randolph. “There’s no question in my mind that he can play at the Division I level.”
Moore’s dad, Skeeter, was a Minnesota Duluth winger from 1983-87, recording 165 points in 149 games, including 60 goals.
RPI finished second in the 12-team Eastern College Athletic Conference in 2012-13 and was 18-14-5 overall. Seth Appert, who spent nine seasons as a University of Denver assistant, has been RPI’s head coach the past seven years. There were three Minnesotans on the RPI roster in 2012-13.
Corey Millen is the new head coach of the NAHL’s Minnesota Wilderness.