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the Gazette features Bears’ Goalie Sam Kroll– well written article about Sam, his excellence and the special Bear Hockey experience
Kroll a mainstay in net for Landon
Though season ended in loss, senior goalie still left his mark on program
by Colin Stevens Staff writer
Tom Fedor/The Gazette
Landon School goalie Sam Kroll lunges to control a loose puck after blocking a shot by Calvert Hall’s John Raimondi last week.
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After the ice cleared and the rink emptied following a Mid-Atlantic Prep Hockey League semifinal game between Landon and Calvert Hall on Feb. 20, Bears goalie Sam Kroll returned to the Rockville Ice Arena’s rink with his skates still laced and pads still covered by his white jersey and sat in the stands with his mother, Amy, replaying the crushing end to his and his teammates’ season.
Little went wrong for Kroll, who made 26 saves and allowed one goal in 55 minutes of play through overtime. He just happened to make one less save than Calvert Hall’s Mike Finn, and Landon lost to the Cardinals, 2-1, in a shootout where only one goal was scored.
With the heart-wrenching finale to his Landon career still fresh, he still took time to look back on his career.
“I’ve had a lot of great memories in that rink,” Kroll said. “That was the rink where I played goalie for the first time, and that’s the last time I’ll play in that rink. So it was really tough.”
While the ending wasn’t perfect, the Bears wouldn’t have been in a position to win that game without him. During what has been called a rebuilding season for the Landon ice hockey program, Kroll was a steady force in net and helped it exceed expectations.
Last year, Kroll split time in net at the beginning of the season with Alex Joyce but made the starting job his after an injury to Joyce.
Kroll’s extreme confidence in himself allowed him to stay in that position. He led the Bears to the Interstate Athletic Conference and MAPHL championships that year, both repeats for Landon.
He’s displayed that confidence throughout the 2012-13 season.
Against DeMatha, with its students throwing frequent taunts his way, Kroll turned to the cheering section and repeatedly lifted his arms, as if he was asking for the banter to continue. The Bears won that game, 5-3, and Kroll made 31 stops.
After Calvert Hall’s first shootout attempt, a back-handed shot by Matthew Curtin that found Kroll’s pads, the senior goalie skated out of the crease on one leg, stomping into the ice with his raised skate while simultaneously ripping his arms apart, just as a baseball umpire would call a runner safe.
Kroll’s best game might have been during a 2-0 win against Gonzaga in which he made 42 saves.
“One thing my coaches at Landon have helped me with is my mental game, more than anything,” Kroll said. “I have coach (Chan) Gammill and coach (Peter) Anas to thank for that. I like to be an aggressive, confident player.”
His teammates had all the confidence in him.
“Sam’s honestly been the anchor of our team since day one,” senior captain Graham Shue said after winning this year’s IAC championship against Bullis. “When he’s on, we’re on. The whole team’s on. Without him we’d be a different team. He really, truly is the anchor of our team, and we ride on his momentum.”
It was tough for Kroll to leave the Rockville Ice Arena last week.
Emotions were flowing directly after the loss. For several minutes, he knelt on the ice at the end boards under a Bears sign as Gammill came to console him. He then returned to his crease, goal already removed, and sat in his butterfly stance. Before he skated off the ice, he took one more look at the scoreboard, which has a brown ‘Go Bears’ banner draped across it.
“I told the coaches, it’s one of the best experiences of my life to play with them for three years,” Kroll said. “The two (MAPHL) rings and three IAC championships, the great camaraderie with the players, and the hard work that we put into accomplishing that. I wish we would have gone further. But even without that, the experiences I’ve had with all the guys will always stick with me.”
cstevens@gazette.net
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