He came to BC in the wake of his brother winning a national championship and a Beanpot in his senior season. He came in ready to play right away, in large part, because of the USA national training program that he played in during his junior and senior years in high school. Those final two years were not your typical high school kid's preparation for college, though.
The Rochester native moved to Ann Arbor, Mich., enrolled in Pioneer High School, and played against the best competition in the world.
"The experience of playing so many games and traveling to places like Finland and Sweden was amazing," Stephen said. "We were basically playing a college schedule like 40 games. I did that for two years so that definitely helped me get ready for the next step."
With the national team, he grew in his understanding of the game. Playing against bigger opponents and learning the grind of playing multiple games per week, as well as attending class by day, forced him to focus his time and energy on both hockey and academics.
"I definitely matured in my time there," Stephen said.
But hockey and school were not the only difficult parts. With the move to Michigan, his mother came and the two rented an apartment. His father stayed back in Rochester and visited when Stephen had an off day or when Penny, his wife, would come home.
"He would take regular classes and practice after school. It was a pretty intense schedule with the travel and playing in different cities," Sam said.
But he survived the schedule and developed into a Division I hockey player. He looked at other schools, but BC was where he felt at home.
"I did listen to Brian about BC, but it was definitely my choice to come here," Stephen said. "My family would have been happy either way."
In his freshman campaign he played in 33 games, scoring five goals and adding another 10 assists. From there, he moved up to playing in 41 games as a sophomore while netting nine goals and assisting on 15 others. As a junior, he played in 38 games and contributed 19 points.
Spring Break
