After uncertain start, Marysville hockey finishing regular season with confidence

Six days before the regular season began, the Marysville hockey team fired coach John Hartig after one year.

Despite the timing, the Vikings told the Times Herald that it was "going to take a few games" for everything to "click."

Their prediction was correct.

Marysville is 16-8-0 overall and 3-3-0 in the MAC White entering Saturday. While it doesn't quite mirror last season's 18 wins and a MAC White championship, it's impressive for a year that started with so much uncertainty.

"I definitely think we have the whole group working hard," said Marysville coach Ron Churchill, who was hired in December. "It took some time for them to understand who I was and how I work. But I think after those initial couple weeks, I started breaking through."

"I've got to give a lot of credit to (Churchill and his staff)," senior forward Braden Turner said. "They've done a lot for us and they're committed to the team ... a few practices after (Churchill) took over, he started getting on people. It just felt comfortable and at home almost. I feel like that was our turning point."

"(Our coaches) have done every they can to push us to be where we're at," senior forward Noah LaValley said. "But a lot of our sophomores have been stepping up for the past year, too. One example, Brody Tuffin. He's scoring like crazy this year compared to last year."

Tuffin has nine goals in 16 games so far this season. That's six more goals than he scored as a freshman.

The Vikings' leading scorer is also a sophomore in Ben LaValley, Noah's younger brother. The second-year forward has 24 goals, which is 11 more than he finished with in 2022.

"He's the best goal scorer around," Noah LaValley said. "He'll be the best player around for years to come. We all see it. Nobody works as hard as him."

"Just like last year, he's been a big emphasis," Turner said of Ben LaValley. "He scored a lot of points for a freshman. This year, he's leading the team in goals by (10)."

"I think they're really starting to grow," Churchill said of his sophomore class. "(Tuffin) has made great strides this year. (Ben LaValley) continues to get better all the time. Certainly, his defensive game has gotten stronger. That whole class has some strong hockey players that we're going to lean on in our future."

As for the present, the team is still led by core players like Noah LaValley (14 goals, 19 assists), Turner (eight goals, 21 assists) and senior goalie Tyler McKenney (won 50th career game on Feb. 16).

Marysville's long-term future is bright. But the Vikings aren't looking that far ahead just yet. They still have the MHSAA tournament in front of them, specifically a regional semifinal against Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett on Feb. 27.

"We've got to stay focused at practice," Turner said. "Come focused and come with the goal to win games in regionals. If we're working hard going into that playoff weekend, I think we can make some noise."

"We want to do everything we can to better our chances in that game," Noah LaValley said. "I guess we'll see when it comes to it."

Contact Brenden Welper at bwelper@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrendenWelper.