Photo courtesy of Joe Archbold Marshall’s Joe Archbold poses for a photo after recently signing a NA3HL tender to play for the Granite City Lumberjacks.

MARSHALL – With a scribble of the pen, Marshall senior Joe Archbold’s dedication to the sport of hockey was rewarded on Friday with the signing of a North American Tier III Hockey League (NA3HL) tender to play for the Granite City Lumberjacks next season.

Archbold joins fellow senior Kaleb Welvaert, as well as former teammate and 2019 Marshall graduate Mason Plante in taking their talents beyond the high school level and into the junior hockey ranks.

Thrilled with the opportunity to continue his hockey-playing career, Archbold was quick to thank his parents, teammates and the Marshall coaching staff for their help in getting him to this point.

“It feels really good,” said Archbold. “I have to thank my parents and teammates. They helped me get here.

“I can’t thank (my coaches) enough too. They’re a big reason why I’m at where I am now,” said Archbold.

With a career-high 12 goals and 21 assists, Archbold had a season to remember in 2019-2020, and caught the eye of the Lumberjacks coaching staff during the team’s trip north to Blaine during the Herb Brooks Holiday Classic tournament.

Following the Tigers’ 5-1 victory over Chisago Lakes to open the tournament, Archbold — who netted a goal and recorded an assist in the victory — began a season-long conversation with the coach of the Lumberjacks that culminated in Friday’s signing.

“They contacted me after the Chisago game when we beat them in the first round up there. The funny thing is, he gave me his card and I put his number in my phone wrong and I texted him after, looked at the card again and figured out that I put his number in wrong and texted him a couple of months after,” said Archbold. “They invited me to a game after the Minnesota River game there, so then I talked to them and then he invited me to go to a game against the Rochester Grizzlies and I went there and then we talked about signing. The coaches were really down to earth people and very nice.”

The Lumberjacks, based in Sauk Rapids, are one of 36 teams across 17 states comprising the NA3HL. The NA3HL is the third tier of junior hockey below Tier II NAHL and Tier I United States Hockey League (USHL). Archbold is hoping to excel at the NA3HL level in the hopes of moving up to the NAHL and drawing interest from college scouts.

“I’d really like to move up to the next level and hopefully get to the North American Hockey League level, and hopefully find a college to look at me,” said Archbold.

Archbold will begin his journey in junior hockey in September when he joins the team for the 48-game season in 2020-2021 and makes the Lumberjacks’ Armadillo Sports Deck Arena his new home. Still, Red Baron Arena will always hold a special place in his heart as he’ll never forget the memories made in a Tiger uniform.

“The long practices have paid off after awhile, so I’ll look back and remember those,” said Archbold on his favorite memories in Marshall. “And all of the tournaments we went to, the home tournament and the Schwan’s Cup.”