Fortino Fuels Club Hockey Team

Jason Fortino has been a part of the William Paterson University Pioneers hockey team for the past two years and has made a huge impact within the program. The senior center from Hawthorne was voted in as a co-captain by his teammates and took sole control of the captaincy at the end of last season, following the graduation of Ray Katinsky.

Fortino, a senior history major, attended Western Connecticut State University for two years before transferring to WPU. He has played hockey since age 12, starting off in a recreational league in Hawthorne. Fortino's plan for when he graduates is to coach hockey and to become a history teacher.

Since Fortino's transfer from WCSU, the Pioneers have won back-to-back Garden State Cups, a tournament played between four New Jersey college hockey teams, which William Paterson has hosted both years at the Ice Vault Arena in Wayne. They have also won the Eight Mile Cup, which is a rivalry competition played between the Pioneers and Montclair State University.

"I absolutely enjoyed every single experience from Western Connecticut, but there came a point in time where I needed to move on," said Fortino. "I knew that by making this transfer, I would give myself the opportunity to save a lot of money on tuition, focus more on schoolwork of course, and jump on board with a bunch of great teammates."

Fortino acts as a team leader everywhere he goes. Fortino is fifth on the team for goals. He is also the only player on the team yet to take a penalty this season. Part of Fortino's responsibilities as captain of the hockey team is to take charge of the team and make sure they carry themselves in a respectable matter.

"Jay is a real class-act on and off the ice," said Director of Team Operations and Pioneer Times staff writer, Alex Iosiovich. "He has not taken a single penalty this season and consistently skates his guts out every shift, which is a testament to his ability to lead, not only vocally, but by example as well."

Most recently, the Pioneers earned the number-one-ranking in the Northeast Region for the first time in the school history. The American Collegiate Hockey Association features four regions which puts the Pioneers as one of the top four teams in the country in their division.

The ACHA Division II consists of over 170 prestigious teams, such as Penn State University, University of Connecticut, University of Massachusetts, Boston College, Siena College, Michigan State, and many more.

Fortino credits his family for his early interest in the sport. Fortino also picked his number on his last name, 14.

Over the past two years the program has been getting very strong not just on the ice but off the ice too, which is recognized by Fortino.

"Our entire organization makes an outstanding effort each and every day to keep our team in as fortunate of a state as we are," said Fortino. "It is a complete team effort. This entire organization works extremely hard on and off the ice."

Fortino leads the team with a lack of selfishness with his 12 assists and zero penalty minutes. Maybe it's fitting that he lists "Miracle" as his favorite movie. Mike Eruzione, captain of the 1979-1980 U.S. winter Olympic hockey team, would be proud.