Freshman Friday is a Q-and-A feature with new members of the men's hockey team. This is the ninth and final installment of the year, featuring defenseman Sebastian Dirven.

Q: One semester is in the books. What do you think of Cornell?
A: I love it so far. School went pretty well first semester; hockey's obviously going pretty well. I'm learning quite a bit from the older guys both academically and hockey routine. So far, so good.

Q: 'Going pretty well' is a bit of an understatement, I think. There are three freshman who are playing top-six minutes right now one the blue line, and obviously you're one of them. Did you envision coming in and contributing so much right away?
A: Honestly, coming in as a freshman, I wasn't sure what my role would be. I knew that I would have a chance to play and that I'd be given a chance to prove myself. So I just kind of had to focus on myself and work on it. Wasn't sure what the role would be, but I knew I had to step up in a way, (since we were) losing three defensemen from last year.

Q: And yet, this is a program that has a reputation of being staunch defensively, and that's sort of a part of the game where you're pretty well set. Is that something that gives you more confidence knowing that when you are coming in?
A: For sure, I think that's something that in the last couple of years in junior hockey, I really tried to focus on and get better at. Just because I've always been told that good defense leads to good offense and obviously if you're good defensively, you'll be given a lot of opportunity because you'll be trusted.

Q: You're a pretty big guy (6-foot-3, 196 pounds). Did you always play defense, and were you always kind of big for your age group?
A: Generally speaking, I was not the biggest for the most part. But I was definitely middle of the pack. I started off playing forward and then got moved to defense early on so, basically for my whole career I've been playing defense.

Q: And you're not shy with moving forward with the puck either. Is that part of your game that you take a lot of pride in, or is that something that is kind of new to you? How would you say that has developed?
A: I've definitely liked carrying the puck a little bit in the past years and definitely something if there is space, I'm not afraid to take it. But I think that's one of the stronger parts of my game, just being able to skate.

Q: You're from Bainsville, Ontario. Found it on the map. How's your French?
A: Not great.

Q: Even though you're right across the river (from Quebec), no French?
A: No, not really. I tried a French immersion in high school for a little bit, a couple of years, and it didn't really pay off for me.

Q: Born and raised in Bainsville?
A: Yeah, I lived in the same house for the past 20 years.

Q: As far as I can tell, it's pretty close to Ottawa and pretty close to Montreal. Where do your allegiances lie?
A: I'm a big Ottawa fan, actually. A lot of people around me were big Montreal fans, and I think that steered me away from it.

Q: Was hockey always a given path? Did you always know this something you wanted to take to the next level?
A: Yeah, growing up I played quite a few sports as a kid. I kind of mixed up a little. I played a little bit of box lacrosse for one or two years, baseball for one or two years. Soccer and hockey were my main sports growing up. Probably around the age of 14, I decided that I wanted to try to pursue hockey as much as possible and just take it a little more seriously.

Q: I've heard you were a striker in soccer. Who's your guy in the English Premier League?
A: Honestly, I never really got into watching soccer, to be honest. I just enjoyed playing it and thought it was a good way to stay in shape. Not a huge soccer fan. I find it a little dry at times.

Q: More importantly, how are you at sewerball (the team's pre-game soccer ritual)?
A: I think I'm above average for the team. Sometimes, I definitely put myself in bad positions trying to do a little bit too much. I think I'm right there with some of the guys.

Q: So you start off down the street from where you grew up with Cornwall in the CCHL, but then you move to the USHL in Central Illinois. First of all, it's a different league. But it's also a different country. How much of an adjustment was that for you?
A: It was quite a big adjustment for me. It was really my first time being away from home other than when I was 16, going to the Ontario Hockey Academy – which was only 30 minutes away. So it was my first time away from home, about 15 hours away. Coming from the CCHL, obviously the USHL was a step up hockey-wise and travel-wise. Going from bus trips that were tops 2 and a half hours to that being the shortest trip, definitely took some time to get used to.

Q: I thought it was interesting that given your age and where your game was, you probably could have come in last year instead of going back to the USHL for a second year. Was that something that you talked about with the coaches?
A: Initially, we had talked about me coming in last year when I was first starting the recruiting process. But we had a pretty good talk about it, and I felt that I could use an extra year. They thought it couldn't hurt either, and it just seemed  numbers-wise that it would work out best for both of us if I would take an extra year and kept playing (in Central Illinois).

Q: Seems to make sense, especially with how things are going now. How was your second year different from your first year in the USHL.
A: My second year was definitely quite a bit different. I was given a little bit more of an offensive role on the team, which was nice to obviously step up to that. We struggled our first year and our second year, it was nice to get past that 14-win mark earlier on in the season. I took a big leadership role which was nice. The coaches really trusted me. It was just nice to work with a good group of guys.

Q: A good group of guys including Max Andreev. Who committed first to come here, was it you?
A: Yeah, I committed before I came to the USHL. So I definitely was in Max's ear a little bit about that one.

Q: Which way were you trying to get him to go?
A: I was actually trying to get him to come here, believe it or not. (laughs)

Q: So did he ask you a bunch of questions about Cornell and things you knew?
A: Yeah, Max was definitely picking my brain a little bit. I think he liked what he heard. I hope I gave the right answers for him. He ended up coming up on his visit and loved it. When he came back, that's all he would talk about.

Q: What do your parents do?
A: Both of my parents actually work on the home farm back in Bainsville.

Q: So you grew up on a working farm, not a hobby farm?
A: Yeah, a grain farm.

Q: You and Tristan Mullin must have a lot to talk about …
A: Yeah, we do. We don't talk about it too much, but when it comes to schooling we are in similar (majors).

Q: So that means you're in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Last I knew, Tristan was studying how to market grain. Are you in a similar path as him? What are you looking to do?
A: I'm still very undecided in what I'm looking to go for my path. I'm currently just trying to feel out a few courses, like a couple of animal science courses. Obviously, Tristan is doing the crop production, and I'm very interested in that as well. So I'm definitely trying to go along the same path.

Q: But animal science, that would almost steer more towards veterinarian stuff. Is that also an interest of yours?
A: A little bit, but it's just kind of to pique my interest to see what it's like. Tristan is actually taking a beef cattle class next semester that I'm trying to get into with him. So that would be something, just to see how it goes.

Q: Your younger brother plays hockey, does your sister play?
A: Yeah, my sister actually played. She's now a registered nurse in Ontario, but she played all the way up until college.

Q: And your brother is in Brockville (of the CCHL) last I checked. Is he looking at colleges himself?
A: He's definitely hoping to go that route. He's having a pretty good year, I think. At the end of the day, if he could get something it would be great. But I think he's just enjoying hockey right now.

Q: Are there any guys that you look at in the NHL and you think is someone you want to play like?
A: Definitely a guy, Brett Pesce, a defenseman from Carolina. Not extremely offensive, but he can chip in once in a while and is known to be a pretty good defensive defenseman.

Q: A defensive defenseman, yet that first collegiate point finally came at Union. Was it a big moment for you to get that off your shoulders?
A: Yeah, definitely nice to get that off the back. It took a little bit longer than I had anticipated, but it wasn't really something that was in the back of my head for a while, actually. I just wanted to just keep playing good defensively, and I knew it would come sooner or late. Just happy it came.

Freshman Friday

•  Oct. 18: Sam Malinski
•  Oct. 25: Matt Stienburg
•  Nov. 1: Travis Mitchell
•  Nov. 15: Ben Berard
•  Nov. 22: Zach Tupker
•  Nov. 29: Jack Malone
•  Jan. 3: Ben Tupker
•  Jan. 17: Peter Muzyka
•  Jan. 24: Sebastian Dirven