Matus Spodniak of Adrian College Wins Sid Watson Award As 2022-23 AHCA Division III Men’s Player of the Year

BEVERLY, MA. – Matus Spodniak, a senior forward from Adrian College, is the recipient of the 2023 Sid Watson Award. The award, voted on by the nation’s Division III head coaches, is presented to the best player at the men’s NCAA Division III level by the American Hockey Coaches Association. The announcement was made on the eve of the NCAA Men's Division III Ice Hockey Championships hosted by Endicott College.

Spodniak, a native of Kosice, Slovakia, has had a standout season for the Adrian College NCAA men's hockey team. He leads the country in scoring with 29 goals on the season, averaging 0.97 goals per game. He also ranks fifth in the country in assists with 27, and leads the country with 56 points and points per game with 1.86.

Adrian enters Friday's semifinal match-up with the University of New England having won 11 of its last 12 games and five straight in the post-season. In those five playoff games, Adrian has outscored its opponents by 41-8 and Spodniak has registered 7-5-12 in those contests.

Spodniak has been particularly adept on the power play, scoring 12 times, including the game-winning goal in the Quarterfinal Round against UW-Stevens Point that sent the Bulldogs to the Frozen Four. Five of Spodniak's goals have been game-winning goals and he leads the team with four hat tricks. Adrian has won three overtime games this season with all three overtime goals coming from Spodniak. He has also played an important role on defense as he sits fourth on the team in blocked shots with 17 leading all the forwards. Spodniak was named to the All-NCHA Team and was an obvious pick for the NCHA Player of the Year.

In two seasons at Adrian, Spodniak is 46-47-93 in 59 games. Prior to arriving at Adrian, he appeared in seven games for American International College (AIC), recording one goal.

The runner-up for this year’s Sid Watson Award was Luke Aquaro, a sophomore forward from Hobart College and Yardley, PA. Sponsored by the American Hockey Coaches Association, the Sid Watson Award honors the memory of former Bowdoin College head coach and athletic director Sid Watson. A three-time AHCA Coach of the Year, Watson served Bowdoin for more than 30 years, winning 326 games in 24 seasons as head coach.

Winners of the Sid Watson Award
1993 Frank Cirone Wisconsin-Stevens Point Forward
1994 Ray Alcindor Middlebury Forward
1995 Charlie Gaffney Bowdoin Forward
1996 Ian Smith Middlebury Defense
1997 Steve Toll RIT Forward
1998 Mark Spence Middlebury Forward
1999 Rob Smillie St. Norbert Forward
2000 Steve Aronson St. Thomas Forward
2001 Keith Aucoin Norwich Forward
2002 Jerry Galway RIT Defense
2003 Maris Ziedins St. Norbert Forward
2004 Kevin Cooper Middlebury Forward
2005 Kurtis McLean Norwich Forward
2006 Adam Hanna St. John's Goalie
2007 Andrew Gallant Manhattanville Goalie
2008 Kyle Jones St. Norbert Goalie
2009 Jeff Landers Amherst Defense
2010 David Martinson Gustavus Adolphus Forward
2011 Chris Berenguer Hamline Defense
2012 Jonathan LaRose Amherst Goalie
2013 Paul Rodrigues SUNY Oswego Forward
2014 David Jacobson St. Norbert Goalie
2015 Drew Fielding St. Thomas Goalie
2016 Jamie Murray Babson Goalie
2017 Evan Buitenhuis Hamilton Goalie
2018 Colin Larkin UMass Boston Forward
2019 Devin McDonald Geneseo Goalie
2020 Tom Aubrun Norwich Goalie
2021 Not Awarded
2022 Peter Bates St. Norbert Forward
2023 Matus Spodniak Adrian Forward