Despite proving a lot, Evan Goetz will return to ice

Imagine what it feels like to score the tying goal in the American Collegiate Hockey Association's Division II national title game just 3:17 into the third period, catapulting your team to eventual victory.Pine-Richland graduate and Florida Gulf Coast University club hockey player Evan Goetz knows exactly what it feels like. He ripped a slap shot from just inside the blue line on the power play to tie the score and jump-start his team to a title on home ice against defending national champion Green Valley from Michigan."I knew we could win it all," Goetz said. "It's what we've been working for since I got here. It just couldn't have ended up any better."The title was the first in the team's 10-year existence, and Goetz almost decided to hang up the skates after the game to finish his college hockey career on top. After much consideration this summer, however, Goetz has decided to use his final season of eligibility and try to get back to the championship."I really thought about going out on top as a national champion," Goetz said recently. "But I realized I would miss the guys and all the fun we have together."He also had an impressive season statistically: Goetz registered 17 goals and 47 points in just 32 games as a defenseman. Included in those totals were nine power-play goals and three game-winning goals, so his equalizer in the championship game was not entirely unexpected. Goetz, who had 36 goals and 63 points in 40 games as a freshman, recently finished his junior year in the sunshine state. He is a philosophy major and is taking the summer off from hockey after the team's six-month season, instead interning at the Heinz History Museum in Pittsburgh.