Crandall, the brother of UMD freshman goalie Aaron Crandall, was the second-leading scorer of the Upper Midwest High School Elite League which completed the regular season last week. UMD recruit Caleb Herbert of Bloomington Jefferson, Crandall's centerman, led the league scoring with 13 goals and 24 assists for 37 points in 21 games for the Southeast team. Crandall had 13-21-34 in 20 games. Southeast won the team title at 15-5-1 and opened the league playoffs Friday night with a 12-0 win over the Omaha Junior Lancers at the New Hope Arena. Southeast met Northwest in Saturday's semifinals.

     "It was an easy decision in picking UMD," Crandall said Saturday. "I love the city, I like UMD's style of play, and I've been talking about wanting to go there for a few years."

       Crandall said he'd made a recuiting visit to Minnesota State-Mankato and had talked to Bemidji State, Nebraska-Omaha, Harvard, Princeton and Yale. He is close friends with UMD recruit Justin Faulk of South St. Paul, a defenseman with the U.S. National Team Development Program Under-18 team, and South St. Paul High School goalie Adam Wilcox, a cousin of former UMD goalie Alex Stalock.

     Crandall had 23 goals and 27 assists for 50 points in 28 games as St. Thomas Academy's second-leading scorer, as a junior. He'll play for the Cadets this season as a captain and is expected to spend a year in the U.S. Hockey League before coming to UMD, along with Herbert.

     "Crandall is a leader who motivates his teammates," said St. Thomas Academy co-coach Greg Vannelli. "He's very creative with the puck, he's good one-on-one, he's not flashy, but he's noticeable as a hard worker."

~ AreaVoices.com