After making a couple of "unofficial" visits to Ivy League schools, Ryan Dau decided to go in the other direction.

Dau checked out the campuses and programs of Holy Cross and Princeton last fall and thought long and hard about playing Division 1 hockey for those fine schools.

Instead of heading to the East Coast, the Hudson star will take his high-energy game to Colorado Springs and play for the Air Force Academy, beginning in the fall of 2013.

Dau did some extensive investigating and decided that the Air Force Academy was the place for him to go.

"I did research into their program and loved everything about it," said Dau. "The coaching staff is unreal and I cannot wait to play for them."

Dau currently sports a 3.88 GPA and plans on majoring in either Business Management or Law.

The Team Wisconsin star has seen his stock improve with impressive performances in both the Senior Class Tournament and CCM Minnesota NIT held last weekend in Plymouth, Minnesota.

Dau tendered with Alaska of the NAHL in January, but it is a good possibility that he might hear his name called during the USHL Draft that will be held on May 16th.

"I hope to be drafted," states Dau. "Anywhere in the draft would be an accomplishment for me."

The 6'1, 175# forward has had opportunities to play for several versions of Team Wisconsin and has benefitted from the coaching and is willing to acknowledge that fact.

"I would just love to thank Team Wisconsin for the opportunity to play for them for the past three years," said Dau. "Without TW and WAHA, I would have never gotten to my goal of playing D1 hockey. Special thanks to Coach (Tony) Scheid, Coach (Jim) Joseph, Coach (Rick) Dorman, Coach (Gary) Shuchuk, and Dave Witting and Mike Connor."

With Dau's hard-working game, expect nothing less than success for this western Wisconsin player in the next few years.