BSM senior and hockey captain Tristan Sarsland announced his commitment early Wednesday morning on April 28th. The defensemen will be furthering his education and playing Division I hockey at Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York.

Sarsland has been playing hockey since he was four years old and was a four-year varsity hockey player for the Red Knights. The Wayzata native arrived at BSM as a freshman after attending Breakaway Academy and playing youth hockey for the Wayzata Trojans. Sarsland’s presence was felt immediately by the Red Knights in his freshman year, as he played all twenty-eight games throughout the 2018-2019 regular season and sections.

Sarsland’s production has only gone up since then, in fact, he has increased his point total each year as a Red Knight. Over the past four seasons, Sarsland has accumulated 81 points as a defenseman. He finished his senior season with a total of 33 points, tallying 12 goals and adding 21 assists, while also being a physical defender with the ability to shut down opposing teams’ best forwards.

This coming fall, Sarsland will be accomplishing something not many college hockey players are able to do. Most players spend two years until they are 20 playing junior hockey before making the jump to the NCAA, but Sarsland will be joining the Golden Knights program as an eighteen-year-old true freshman. However, the defensemen did play juniors while still in high school, where he made 19 appearances for the Fairbanks Ice Dogs, totaling 14 points. “I do think juniors have prepared me, even though it was short, I learned many valuable lessons,” Sarsland said.

After decommitting from Colorado College during his junior year, Sarsland took multiple visits to other colleges and narrowed it down to three schools that were all on the east coast— ultimately landing at Clarkson. “I decided to commit to Clarkson because I felt really comfortable with the coaches and I could see myself fitting really well into the hockey program and school,” Sarsland said.

The Clarkson Golden Knights finished the season ranked 17th in the country this past season going 21-10-6, and have high hopes again for this coming year. The defenseman is excited to get started and ready to make an immediate impact, just like he has done before. “My goal is to help the team win games and ultimately compete to win National Championships,” Sarsland said.

The Red Knight senior was ranked 67th among all North-American skaters according to NHL’s 2022 Draft Prospect Rankings that was released on May 5th. Sarsland was one of nine total players on that list who played Minnesota high school hockey this past winter. Sarsland hopes Clarkson can be another stepping stone to reach the next level. “Hopefully after Clarkson I will be able to play pro hockey and maybe sign an NHL deal,” Sarsland said.