Rensselaer junior right wing Matt Garver has withdrawn from the Institute and is expected to enroll at Rochester Institute of Technology in the fall.
“It’s an unfortunate situation,” said head coach Dan Fridgen in a prepared statement. “But we’re certainly appreciative of what Matt has contributed to the program over his three years and we wish him all the best.”
Garver finished fourth in the ECAC overall scoring race last season with 18 goals and 22 assists, and fourth in league scoring with 14 goals and 17 assists, earning honorable-mention all-league status. By transferring to RIT, a Division III program, Garver will be eligible to play the 1998-99 season.
Also, at Rochester, Garver will be reunited with head coach Eric Hoffberg. Garver, a native of nearby Pittsford, started playing hockey in Hoffberg’s camps when he was a youngster.
“I’ve known him [Hoffberg] since I was five years old, and he said there would always be a spot for me there at RIT if I wanted it … I just feel that my personality and the coach’s are very similar,” Garver told the Albany (N.Y.) Times Union. “We see eye-to-eye and he has a lot of views that I agree with. I respect him as a person and he respects me as a person.”
