After deciding to take a gap year to play junior hockey, Jonny Sorenson, who graduated from Park in 2018, committed to play Division I hockey at the University of Minnesota.

Sorenson said he chose the University of Minnesota because it’s always been a school he wanted to attend and once the opportunity arose, he knew he had to take it.

“I really like the coaching staff. They have a lot of good things to say, and it’s just a dream school for me honestly,” Sorenson said. “Right when they called I knew that it was the place I wanted to be.”

According to Sorenson, the past few months he has been playing for the Fairbanks Ice Dogs, a Juniors team in Alaska. He said his experience playing in Fairbanks has taught him to never give up and how to work hard.

“I learned to adjust to certain situations and honestly just never give up. You never know what’s going to happen,” Sorenson said. “(I) just always keep my head down and just work day in and day out.”

Sorenson’s former teammate, sophomore Sam Berry said Sorenson’s commitment and impressive work ethic has allowed him to succeed.

“He has so much passion and drive for what he does. He gives 100 percent, and he’s a great kid on and off the ice,” Berry said.

Athletic director Andy Ewald said he expected Sorenson to commit eventually because of his hard work and dedication to what he does.

“I did expect this just because he is a pretty goal-driven person who has high expectations for himself,” Ewald said. “At least what I’ve seen from him when he was here at Park was he worked extremely hard to try to reach those goals.”

Senior Tim Collins said his favorite part about playing hockey with Sorenson is his talent for making great plays for his teammates.

“He’s great at creating plays for his teammates. He knows exactly where you want the puck, and he gets the job done,” Collins said.

Sorenson said playing hockey at Park helped him improve the skills that are required to succeed in a higher level of hockey.

“It shaped me on how I play, like how aggressive I am and just the skills that I have like stickhandling,” Sorenson said.

Collins said Sorenson’s willingness to put the team first is what makes him stand apart from other players.

“He (has a) team first mentality. He loves his teammates, and he puts in time on and off the ice, and it just really shows,” Collins said.

Sorenson said he’s most looking forward to playing at the University of Minnesota because his family and friends will be able to watch him play, and it’s been a team he has grown up supporting.

“(I’m looking forward to) playing in front of all my family and friends that I have grown up with and just being close to home,” Sorenson said.