MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – As the Nebraska-Omaha hockey team battles with the Golden Gophers, there’s reason for optimism even if it’s still early in the season.

That’s because of the play of freshman goaltender Adam Wilcox.

He’s young on the roster, but well-seasoned by hockey standards.

He was making a name for himself at South St. Paul before taking his game to the juniors realm, meaning he gave up high school hockey and high school football.

“I loved playing football and different sports growing up,” he said. “It gave me a different athletic ability.”

He traveled to Green Bay to play for the USHL’s Gamblers. And in two years, he not only improved, he labored his way to a new level.

“Playing two years in juniors helped,” he said. “After the first year, I was good, but two years helped more.”

That helps explain this season where he has stepped in, and stepped it up for the Gophers in a position that was wide open coming into the 2012-13 campaign.

And no one feels better about it than the head coach.

“I’m most pleased with his consistency,” Don Lucia said. “You start to get a comfort level of the kind of game he’s going to play, night in, and night out.”