The Cleveland Jr. Lumberjacks, proud members of the North American 3 Hockey League, are pleased to announce that goaltender David Heflin has announced his NCAA commitment to the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. UWRF is an NCAA Division III program that competes in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association (NCHA).
Heflin, 19, played the entire 2012-13 season for the Lumberjacks, who won the NA3HL’s East Division with a 38-10-0 record. The native of Mundelein, Illinois, posted an impressive record of 21-5-0 during the regular season. However, Heflin’s season came to an abrupt end on in late February when he suffered an injury in a game against St. Louis.
Heflin (6’0/160) ranked 4th in the NA3HL with 21 wins, 6th in save percentage with a 92.0% mark and 7th in goals against average with a 2.28 mark.
For his efforts in January, Heflin was honored as the NA3HL Goaltender of the Month as he helped lead Cleveland to an undefeated 8-0 record, while personally posting a 5-0 record. He faced 161 shots during the month and made 152 saves, which was good for a 94.4% save percentage and a 1.80 goals against average.
“He played really well for us this year and was very steady. He was our back bone and brought the right attitude and work ethic to the rink every day,” said Cleveland head coach Bob Jacobson.
Heflin’s time with Cleveland in the NA3HL wasn’t his first in the league. During the 2010-11 season, he played in eight games during the first half the season for the Chicago Hitmen. During the entire 2011-12 season, Heflin played for the Coulee Region Chill in the NAHL, posting a 3.43. goals against average and a 90.6% save percentage in 14 regular season games.
Most recently, Heflin played for Team Ohio at the 2013 NA3HL Top Prospects Tournament held earlier in May in Frisco, Texas, where he helped lead the team to the Championship game, where they fell to Team Midwest.
Check out the list of NA3HL alumni playing college hockey here
