Dalton Charest
Equinox Staff
It’s not often that a Keene State College athletics team gets to travel to the Sunshine State for a regular season game, let alone a club team. But that’s exactly what the KSC Men’s Club Ice Hockey team is doing post-Thanksgiving break from Nov. 30 to Dec. 2.
Florida is known for its beaches, never-ending orchards of oranges, alligators and Disney World. Being the next big destination for KSC’s Men’s Club Ice Hockey team is an unlikely place that most hockey fans would imagine, but the Owls aren’t just playing any team. They’re playing the Florida Gulf Coast University Eagles, who are ranked number one nationally in the American Collegiate Hockey Association and are the defending national champions.
The KSC Owls will be taking on the Eagles in a two-game weekend series that will be a true test for the tenth regionally ranked ACHA KSC team.
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In the past two seasons, other club hockey teams from the University of Vermont and Boston College have received invites to venture down to Fort Meyers, Fla. to face the FCGU Eagles but this past Spring, the KSC club team received the renowned invitation.
KSC hockey’s Head Coach Bobby Rodrigue has coached and managed the program for the last six seasons. He described the opportunity to be able to play against the number one team in the nation as a huge step for the program that showed its growth in skill and development since it started a short six years ago.
“The trip is really huge to the team,” Rodrigue said. “Most of the strongest teams in the region have done this trip. Florida Gulf Coast [University] called us in the spring and asked us if we were interested in trying it. It really represents how much our club has grown in six short years. After we accepted the invitation they went out and won a national championship so now it’s even more interesting that we’re going in to take on the big dogs.”
This is not the first time club sports at KSC, which involve sports other than hockey like both men’s and women’s rugby, have traveled to Florida. In 2011, men’s rugby traveled to Florida for nationals. Unlike collegiate NCAA approved sports, KSC club teams have to pay the fees out of their own pockets to play and participate.
The KSC hockey team has to pay $1,300 to play this season, as compared to the usual price of approximately $1,000. This includes the payment of ice time, games, equipment and not to mention the newly added expense of air fare and food accommodations for the trip to Florida. FGSU paid for hotel and transportation accommodations for the team.
Despite the increase in price to play a sport like hockey, which has always been one of the most expensive sports to play in the world, the players love the opportunity the KSC program has given them this season. Team Captain Pat Sullivan thinks the way the program has grown over his time here at KSC makes the team very deserving of the trip.
“Well you show progression every year and the better teams you play and how you form as a club, whether it be in the class room or out of the classroom.” Sullivan said.
“We’ve had strong performance against the teams up here in New England and that has been reflected by Florida Gulf Coast [University] who are the national champions right now and overall it’s a good push for the whole club and a good push for Keene State College in itself.”
Assistant Captain Bob Fuller said this game in particular is very important for their regional ranking as a team and is confident that his hockey team can go down into FGCU’s own rink and scrape up a couple of victories.
“It’s really good for regional ranking because if we go down there and take our game to them and beat them,” Fuller said. “They’re pretty much the top dog in the country right now. I don’t consider it an upset because I think we’re just as talented as them, but if we go down there and beat them we’d be in a good spot for the rest of the season hopefully. If you want to beat the best you got to play the best.”
Coach Rodrigue said this trip is as much a part of the players experience as it is about the growth of the program.
“It’s a real statement of credibility in terms of what we’ve done here on this campus,” Rodrigue said. “But it’s also an unbelievable experience for our guys to be able to fly down to the national champions and play a weekend series with them. I think it represents a great opportunity for the team.”
The KSC Owls Club Ice Hockey team is 3-4-1 through eight games this season and doesn’t plan on losing many more games in the remaining months. History has shown that last season, when the team didn’t lose one game in the second semester half of the year, that the Owls are a challenging team for opponents to defeat in the final stretch.
Rodrigue said he hopes the two-game series with FCGU will show the rest of the ACHA that his KSC Owls have the ability to knock the Eagle’s off their perch at the top of the national ranking.
“The guys are excited for the opportunity,” Rodrigue said. “I mean these guys have got a ton of pride so I think there’s going to be a part of them saying, ‘Hey, these guys are the national champions, let’s go at them.’ That’s what we like about the guys we have.”
The games will be played on Nov. 30 and Dec. 2 and the Owls hope to have an excuse to celebrate their victories with a trip to the most magical place on earth: Disney World.
Dalton Charest can be contacted
at dcharest@keene-equinox.com