Wayzata goalie's extensive pregame routines, consistent puck-stopping earn him a future spot with Tommies

PLYMOUTH, Minn. — Game days can be quite a process for Wayzata High School goalie Will Ingemann. In addition to his well-earned reputation for stopping pucks consistently, the senior for the Trojans is renowned to be one of the most strictly superstitious players in the game.

Ingemann, who announced his commitment to St. Thomas this week, jokingly admits that for a 7 p.m. home game, the unbreakable and precise routine begins hours earlier, involving a brief nap, a Subway sandwich, getting picked up for a ride to the rink by the same teammate (precisely at 4:15 p.m.), a few minutes of watching the JV game, some juggling and other hand-eye coordination exercises in the locker room and a bevy of other things before he takes the ice for warmups.

“I do all these things before a game to get my body ready and get dialed in,” said Ingemann, who played a half-dozen games with St. Cloud in the NAHL prior to the start of this season and expects to return to junior hockey once the prep season concludes. “I don’t know if it’s really a superstition, it’s just the stuff I do.”

More recently, college visits are among the things that Ingemann has been doing, and after looking around and exploring some options, he chose one that’s relatively close to home. On Wednesday, Feb. 1, he announced via Twitter that he hopes to play two more seasons of juniors and join the Tommies at the start of the 2024-25 – right about the time their 4,000-seat new Anderson Arena is slated to open.

“I did a couple college visits before St. Thomas, but when I toured there, what I saw and what they were telling me kind of stuck out compared to the other ones,” he said. “The plan they have for the program, especially with the new rink coming, it should be really cool, and I was really excited when they offered me.”

Pete Knutson / St. Cloud Noresmen

Ingemann is of average size, but prides himself on an ability to read plays, and be vocal with his teammates to let them know what he’s seeing from his perch in the crease. Through the Trojans’ first 18 games this season, he posted a 1.41 goals-against average, a .942 saves percentage and a 12-4-2 record.

But it is that meticulous preparation that sets him apart from other goalies in his class. Trojans coach Pat O'Leary notes the rarity of a Minnesota high school goalie getting a Division I offer prior to playing a year or two of juniors.

"His quirk is his preparation. His routine at the rink before practice and before games is something I've never seen before," said O'Leary, a former Gopher who coached the Trojans to the 2016 Class AA state title. "Everything is timed out by the millisecond, so among other things, that's his number one quirk. So it's good."

The coach added, with a chuckle, that about the only "problem" Ingemann has caused on the team is a talk the coach had to have with the Trojan forwards, as their frustration was growing over an inability to score in practice.