Each year one member of the Lake Forest College men’s hockey team is awarded the Peter G. Taylor Award. It is awarded to one player, selected by his teammates, whose outstanding talent, leadership and love for the game best exemplify the qualities of the player for whom it is named. The Peter Taylor award was established as a fond tribute by his family, friends and former teammates.
On Saturday, February 3 the 25th recipient of the award was awarded ironically enough to senior forward #25 George Gerasimou. When asked about the irony of “25” Gerasimou chuckled and said, “I did not realize the correlation, but it’s pretty funny how it worked out that way.”
A Charlotte, North Carolina native Gerasimou has appeared in 26 games this season. After recording seven points during his first three season combined, he currently leads the Foresters this year with 22 on five goals and a team-high 17 assists.
In addition to Gerasimou’s achievements on the ice, he is a two-time member of the NCHA All-Academic Team and currently holds a 3.60 cumulative grade point average. In Gerasimou’s limited spare time, he serves as treasurer of the Lake Forest College Athletic Council and as his team’s representative on the College’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
“My parents found out three weeks before the award was going to be presented that I would be receiving it, but they kept the secret from me. While standing on the blue line next to my teammates, as soon as I heard the announcer say “he has played forward and defense during his career”, I was kind of in awe that it was me. We have such a great class and I honestly thought that the award could go to any of us. I’m very honored to have been selected.”
Dating back to the first presentation of the award in the 1993-94 season, the Peter Taylor Award has been given to All-Americans, All-Conference selections, and to several leaders on and off the ice. “From the accolades of former recipients and from the description of the award itself, you can see how tremendous those guys were and how meaningful the award is.” Gerasimou goes on to say, “to have my name in the same category as them is definitely something special that I can take with me and remember for the rest of my life.”
Gerasimou will graduate this May with a double major in finance and neuroscience. Upon graduation he plans to stay close to Lake Forest College and work at Medline Industries in their financial rotational program located in Northbrook, Illinois.
By Cam McGuire