When Rick DiPietro was a 19-year-old rookie goalie for the New York Islanders, he had no idea of the impact he might have on the youth of Long Island.

“Rick DiPietro was my idol growing up,” confirmed Zacharewicz.

The No. 1 overall pick in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft became the hero of young Riverhead, N.Y., resident Jacob Zacharewicz, and inspired young Jacob to put on the pads and give it a go himself, starting on roller blades at age 6.

I believe that the USPHL full-season Midget divisions are a great place to properly develop your skills and prepare you for higher levels of hockey on and off the ice.

That decision has now flourished into an NCAA Division 1 commitment. On Sunday, Zacharewicz announced his commitment to Brown University. He did so while essentially wearing the same jersey as his hero, DiPietro. Zacharewicz was a USPHL 16U All-Star for the P.A.L. Junior Islanders in 2017-18.

The current plan is for Zacharewicz to join the Brown Bears for the 2020-21 season.

“My relationship with Brown began shortly after this year’s Select 17 Festival,” said Zacharewicz. “They contacted me after the camp and things went fairly quickly after then. I built a relationship with the coaches of Brown through frequent communication. I toured their campus and fell in love with it instantly. I can tell that they are working on having a bright future and I want to be a part of it.”

For the last two seasons, Zacharewicz was a crucial ingredient to the P.A.L. 16U squad, first joining them as a 15-year-old. He impressed with a .916 save percentage in 2016-17, and blasted past that to the tune of a .939 percentage this past season, and then went even better in the postseason, boosting his save percentage to .941.

His goals against average between regular season and playoff was an equally impressive 1.57. Next up, his goal is to stymie shooters in the National Collegiate Development Conference with the P.A.L. Jr. Islanders in the upcoming 2018-19 season.

“My game has improved tremendously throughout my two seasons with the U16 P.A.L. Jr. Islanders,” said Zacharewicz. “I came in very raw and eventually simplified and matured my game. Also, playing a lot of games throughout the seasons helped me to continuously develop and effectively apply my skills.

“I believe that the USPHL full-season Midget divisions are a great place to properly develop your skills and prepare you for higher levels of hockey on and off the ice,” Zacharewicz added. “The league is well-run and I couldn’t imagine spending my Midget years elsewhere.”

Zacharewicz was the third player to make a NCAA Division 1 commitment from the 2017-18 P.A.L. Jr. Islanders 16U team, joined in that respect by Nathaniel Hanley (Northeastern) and Christian Jimenez (Harvard). Teammates of Zacharewicz who committed a year earlier include Dominick Fensore (Boston University), Danny Weight (Boston College) and Jack O’Leary (Cornell).

Eric Conway coached Zacharewicz at the 15 and 16U levels with the P.A.L. organization, and will coach Zacharewicz again this year as Associate Coach of the NCDC squad. He is not at all surprised to see Zacharewicz make his commitment as a 17-year-old.

“As someone who has watched Jacob develop over the last three years, I am very proud of him not only from a hockey standpoint but also academically,” Conway said. “To be able to keep up such strong grades and be able to commit to an Ivy League school is an exceptional accomplishment.

“Jacob really stood out at Select 17 National Camp, posting a .942 save percentage in four games,” said Conway. “I have seen tremendous strides in terms of his focus, preparation, and maturity. Obviously, he’s a bigger goalie [6-2, 190], but he also tracks the puck well and has strong rebound control. I credit much of his success this season to our program making it a point to have separate goalie-focused sessions that allowed our goalies to work on little details and get quality reps outside just our regularly scheduled practices.”

The P.A.L. Jr. Islanders also helped Zacharewicz during the time he was working with Brown University.

“The P.A.L. organization has helped me throughout my recruiting process by connecting me with the right people and giving me the best chance to develop my game,” he said. “The organization has provided me with plentiful resources which have helped me develop my game into what it is today.”

About the USPHL

Founded in 2012, the United States Premier Hockey League (USPHL) is comprised of more than 500 teams. Our teams are geographically diverse, ranging from Northeast to South to the Midwest.

Our Junior Divisions consists of the National Collegiate Development Conference, (NCDC) which is a unique, tuition-free, junior hockey division geared toward Division I collegiate development placement and beyond, as well as our developmental Premier and Elite Divisions.

Our Midget and Youth Divisions consist of 18U, 16U, 16U Futures, EHF Selects Split-Season Midget Divisions, and High Performance Youth Hockey League, as well as the Eastern Hockey Federation.

In 2018, the USPHL merged with the Eastern Hockey Federation to become the Nation's Largest Amateur Hockey Organization.