In a season that has seen the Grand Valley State University Division II hockey club jump out to a 23-2-1 record, the team has had no shortage of freshmen helping out.

Some of those freshmen have surpassed the typical underclassmen limitations to contribute to the team in important ways. Freshman Jake Endicott is one of those players.

“Jake is a good player,” said GVSU head coach Mike Forbes. “We’ve been pretty fortunate because we’ve had quite a few freshmen that contribute offensively and put up some points. They’re smart players and smart players find a home quickly.”

Hailing from Highland, Mich., Endicott joined the team as a forward this season, and his 11 goals and 15 assists are but a small part of his “home” with the team.

“I started off hot with a bunch of goals at the beginning of the season, but I went down since then,” he said. “I’m a play-maker more than a big scorer. I try to go out there and make smart plays.”

Laker veterans agree that Endicott, and the freshmen in general, have been a great help to the team through the season’s easiest and hardest games.

The team was impressed by the fast turnaround on incoming freshmen and how quickly the rookies adapted to the difficult and aggressive flow of college hockey.

“He’s done well, he’s come in, he’s worked hard, and he gets the net and just scores,” said junior forward Bobby Anderson.

Like the rest of the Lakers, Endicott is both excited and nervous about the team’s winning streak, which currently stands at 22-straight games.

“It feels amazing,” he said. “I’ve never been a part of something so incredible. We’re going to have people gunning for us, though. That puts a lot of pressure on us, but I think we’ll keep playing the game well.”

The Lakers hope to continue their streak with games this weekend against Michigan State University on Friday and Saturday, the second of which will be a Laker home game, as well as a game against Davenport University.

While the Lakers remain untested against Michigan State, they previously defeated the Division I-Davenport team, 5-4, on the road earlier this month. The game proved to be one of the most difficult games of the season, and Sunday’s game will surely be similar.

Despite the difficulty of the upcoming games, Endicott, like the rest of the Lakers, remains confident that the winning combination of offense, defense and chemistry that the Lakers have demonstrated this season will continue to serve them well.

“The way everyone lines up is great out there,” he said. “We have such good team chemistry, there are no rivalries, put us out there with anybody and we’ll play well and capitalize on everything.”

jvanzytveld@lanthorn.com