Playing hockey may not have been the main reason Adam Benkovich transferred to Marquette but it certainly impacted his decision.
The senior spent the first six years of his life learning how to play hockey outside of Toronto. His family moved around a lot due to work but there was one thing that remained constant throughout Benkovich’s life and that was hockey.
“I’ve always loved hockey, I loved watching and playing growing up and even have taught hockey before,” Benkovich said.
Benkovich has lived and played hockey in Canada, Illinois, Pennsylvania and now Milwaukee. Moving around to new areas could be difficult for some but Benkovich said hockey always helped the transition run smoothly.
“It was a challenge, but I really enjoyed it because you get to meet new people,” he said. “It was always something I could always go to.”
Growing up Benkovich played mostly AA hockey for youth clubs. He has loads of experience after playing for so many years all over the country. It’s something he says has helped his game progress to where it is today.
“I’ve had multiple coaches all over the place, I’ve gotten to play with tons of different people and go to different tournaments,” Benkovich said. “You learn and get to see a lot of different playing styles.”
The 6-foot forward came to Marquette after his first semester of college from Niagara University in New York. Having missed tryouts that year Benkovich was forced to sit out a full year, something he had not done since he began playing when he was three-years old. Benkovich wanted to attend a good school with a good program for his major, accounting and finance. While looking at which schools to attend Benkovich knew some players from his high school on Marquette’s club team. After reaching out to them and realizing he had a good shot at making the team, Benkovich was sold.
“Hockey was definitely a part of my decision, taking a year off was a mistake so I couldn’t wait to play again,” he said.
Throughout his three-year career Benkovich has played a huge role in the teams’ success. During his time at Marquette he has recorded over 60 points and was named team captain his junior year. This season Benkovich is tied for a team-high 11 goals and is fourth on the team in points.
“He’s a guy who always shows up and is ready to go, he leads by example and that’s why he’s a captain,” Head Coach Will Jurgensen said.
Benkovich said he was honored to be named captain his junior year.
“To see that the team looked up to me as a leader means a lot,” he said. “I’ve been captain for a few teams before but I think this one meant the most.”
This season the club is again battling for a trip to nationals. Despite all the recent success during the regular season the team has still come up short the past few seasons. Having a player like Benkovich, who has been to nationals before in high school for his travel team and has played in big games his whole career, should help.
“As a coach you have a lot of trust in him (Benkovich),” Jurgensen said. “He’s a great asset to have on the ice in big moments.”
Benkovich hopes his experience and leadership can help lead his team to nationals once again.
“It’s a great experience, it’ll be really great for the program and all the guys especially coming up short the past couple years,” Benkovich said.