Oklahoma Warriors defenseman Garrett Horsager has committed to play Division I hockey at Bentley University.
Horsager, who served as alternate captain on the Warriors’ 2023 Robertson Cup championship team, becomes the eleventh player from that group to commit to the Division I level.
“It is a great opportunity,” Horsager said. “I talked with their coaching staff and loved what they wanted for me as a player and as a person. There are great people there.”
After three years of high school hockey in Minnesota, Horsager did not get the attention from junior teams he was hoping for. He decided to play AAA and NAPHL hockey in Des Moines with the hope of parlaying it into a spot in juniors. It worked: the Warriors signed him in 2021 and would be the only organization Horsager played for in 115 games.
The 21-year-old from Rosemount, Minn. became a part of Warriors history forever by scoring the game-winning goal with under four minutes remaining in the championship game while back in his home state.
“He is a great example of what our league is all about,” Garrett Roth, head coach and general manager of the Warriors, said. “About a kid that gets an opportunity and does everything he possibly can to continue to develop every day. He is an excellent teammate. A prototypical captain who looks out for everyone else on the hockey team and only cares about team success.”
Bentley, a private school in Waltham, Mass. reached out to Horsager a month after his season ended and officially offered him a deal soon after.
“It was a long summer for sure,” Horsager said. “Not being sure what is going to happen. (Bentley) reached out right before the fourth of July. It seemed like a great opportunity for me and my family. A few weeks went by and fortunately I was able to commit.”
Horsager’s perseverance has taken him all the way to the highest level of college hockey. He is set to join the Bentley Falcons, and first-year coach Andy Jones, this fall.
“It is an opportunity to go in and prove that he can be an impactful player at the Division I level,” Roth said. “We know he is going to go in there and give everything he has. He is going to be the ultimate teammate. He is going to compete and battle every single day.”
“All my coaches told me to keep working,” Horsager said. “That was the best advice I could have gotten. I was just fortunate enough to get an opportunity (at Bentley) and a really good one.”
