RIT men’s hockey fans excited for NCAA playoff action

It’s been eight years since RIT’s men’s hockey advanced to the NCAA tournament, so current students have never experienced the excitement surrounding the team as they’ve seen on campus this week.

“Every student across campus is beyond excited for the men's hockey team since they made it to the NCAA Championship,” said RIT Student Government President Darcie Jones. “Being a former athlete myself, I know the joys that come with competing for your university for the entire nation to see. It’s disappointing that Sioux Falls is a 17 1/2 hour-car trip, but you can be sure our campus spirit will be off the charts in the Gene Polisseni Center.”

A watch party is scheduled at 5 p.m. today.

Julia Spaziani, a graduate student in materials science and engineering from Cortland, N.Y., was one of dozens of students, faculty, staff, alumni, and even community members, who showed up Tuesday to cheer the team on as they boarded a bus to the airport for their flight to Sioux Falls, S.D. She wore a white Corner Crew jersey with many team member autographs on the back.

“Not only is the team electrifying and entertaining, the guys on the team are really nice guys,” she said. “And I’ve made a lot of friends with others in the Corner Crew.”

Michelle Snow, a film production major from Stafford, Va., likes the team so much, she seriously planned to drive to South Dakota to watch the game, but couldn’t find enough friends to go with her.

Snow said she really wasn’t a hockey fan until her junior year, when she attended games with her friends as a way to bond together and celebrate RIT.

“Their win last weekend (for the Atlantic Hockey Association Championship) was a nice cherry on top,” she said.

As a final capstone project this year, Snow produced a 15-minute, mixed-media documentary about the hockey team, mostly focusing on three players. “It shows how the culture surrounding hockey at RIT has affected the student and player experience,” Snow said. “They have a really unique fan base.”

Several players from RIT’s women’s hockey team also came to cheer the men as they left campus on Tuesday.

“We have some of the same goals as the men, so to see them in the NCAA playoffs, it’s exciting,” said Jordyn Bear, a forward on the women’s hockey team.

Jay Earley, a fifth-year civil engineering technology major from Atlanta, also attended the unadvertised send-off, and wore a Frozen Four sweatshirt from 2010, when RIT went to the finals.

“I’ve only missed a couple of games, and they were played when it was Thanksgiving break and I was home,” Earley said. He’s even followed the team to away games, as far away as Dartmouth in New Hampshire.

“I love college hockey. I grew up in a hockey family,” Earley said. “RIT’s hockey program was a huge reason I came here.”

Elizabeth Roberts, a first-year marketing major from Ravena, N.Y., also said the hockey program was one reason she enrolled at RIT.

“I just love watching hockey,” she said. “There’s so much anticipation. It’s non-stop excitement.”

Her message for the team: “Good luck. We’ll be watching from campus!”