Jamestown goalie Keane makes NCAA DI commitment
May 6, 2019
Ryan Keane played in the 2019 NAHL Top Prospects Tournament for the East Division team.
The Jamestown Rebels, proud members of the North American Hockey League (NAHL), are pleased to announce that Top Prospects goaltender Ryan Keane has committed to play NCAA Division I hockey for the University of Connecticut, effective Fall 2019. Keane becomes the seventh player to earn an NCAA commitment this season for the Rebels.
Keane, 21, just wrapped up his last year of junior hockey and is it was certainly one to remember. He finished the regular season ranked second for goalies in goals-against-average for the second-straight year with a 1.81 mark. During the regular season his overall record was 23-10-1-1 with three shutouts.
He was also selected as one of the goalies to represent the East Division during the 2019 NAHL Top Prospects Tournament. In his two games played during the event he only allowed three goals and had a .923SV%. Keane not only shined at the tournament but as well as the entire season making countless saves that wound up on NAHL Plays of the Week.
The 5’9/165 lbs. native of Coppell, Texas will be taking his talents over seven-and-a-half hours east to play at the NCAA Division I level. The Huskies are a member of the Hockey East Conference. UCONN has had 13 former players reach the National Hockey League, all but one of those players have entered the NHL Draft within the last six years. The Huskies have received a lot of awards over their 50+ years of hockey but ones that stick out are their 9 All-Americans, 12 ECAC East All-Stars, 32 players named to the Hockey East All-Academic Team, 2 players selected for the Hockey East All-Star Second Team, 1 Defensive Rookie of the Year, and 1 Conference Championship in 1999-00 when they were a part of the MAAC. They finished ninth in their conference this past season and unfortunately did not qualify for the 2019 Hockey East Playoffs, closing their season with an overall record of 12-20-2.
Keane was drafted #93 overall in the 2017 NAHL Entry Draft by the Aston Rebels. In 2017-18 Keane was named NAHL (East) Goaltender of the Year along with NAHL All-East Division Team.
“I am looking forward to playing college hockey and I feel playing for the Rebels has prepared me for it greatly,” said Keane. “I am very grateful for my time spent as a Rebel in Philadelphia and Jamestown. I would not change a thing about my junior career. I want to thank my coaching staff and teammates for helping me become a better player and a better man.”
“Ryan has been one of the best goalies in the league the last two seasons. This is well deserving, and we could not be happier for him,” said Rebels head coach Joe Coombs.
