Peter-Owen Hayward looks to build upon successful freshman season with Syracuse club ice hockey
Before Peter-Owen Hayward ever took the ice with Syracuse’s club hockey team, where he scored four game-winning goals during his freshman season, time ticked away as he grappled with his college decision.
Several offers and recruitment visits later, Hayward chose Syracuse, a school that does not have an NCAA Division I men’s hockey team.
In just his first season of collegiate club hockey, Hayward led the country in goals with 38, three more than the next-highest player. The now-sophomore finished last season with 64 points in just 35 games. Now, Hayward and Syracuse (5-2) are trying to build on his freshman campaign.
“Everyone could see he was a good player right when he came in,” Trip Franzese, Hayward’s linemate, said. “But then what he did on the ice was unexpected. I don’t think anyone expected him to do that.”
After his high school graduation, Hayward didn’t enroll in college. He decided to play a season of post-graduate junior hockey for the Boston Jr. Bruins in the United States Premier Hockey League, hoping to receive Division I offers. The best he got was Division III looks. A few were solid offers, Hayward said, but none were what Hayward was looking for academically.
Hayward also received offers from schools with D-I American Collegiate Hockey Association teams, like Syracuse. Ideally, he wanted a school with a strong business program, which Syracuse was able to offer with the Martin J. Whitman School of Management.
Now, Hayward is a marketing and advertising dual major in Whitman and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.
As a member of the Orange, Hayward’s transition came with ease. He immediately became a leader in the locker room, giving SU a much-needed spark during games, Franzese said. Paired with his athleticism and natural scoring ability, SU head coach Nicholas Pierandri said, Hayward became a top recruit for the club hockey team.
“He established a new level of player at our university,” Pierandri said.
Before the start of his sophomore year, Hayward’s teammates elected him to be an assistant captain, a title, Pierandri said, not commonly held by two-year players. Franzese added that Hayward leads by example, is good at getting things done and getting his teammates fired up.
“He’s a marquee player,” Pierandri said, “a good voice for our team, and a leader in the way he plays.”
SU enters this season having won 20-plus games four consecutive times and making three appearances in the ACHA national tournament. While Hayward looks to defend the scoring title, it’s not a thought that often enters his mind.
“If you go out and try to lead the country in goals you’re never going to do it,” Hayward said. “When I was playing for the Junior Bruins, people had lots of high expectations for me coming out of high school.
“… Once I let (the pressure) go and started playing more freely, I played better.”
