UB hockey groups head to country wide championships

As for March Madness methods, UB teams might be vying for countrywide popularity. Were you questioning men’s and women’s club hockey? Both squads, which fly largely underneath the radar due to their non-varsity fame, capped stellar regular seasons. As a result, both earned a berth in the American Collegiate Hockey Association’s (ACHA) countrywide event in Frisco, Texas, which starts this week for the men, followed through the women following week. Fans can watch all of the video games live via the ACHA National Championships YouTube web page. More than 1,500 gamers from 72 groups throughout all 5 ACHA divisions will converge upon the Dallas-Fort Worth metro place to compete in more significant than a hundred video games. The men’s event runs from March 21-26, at the same time as the girls are about for March 27-31, each along with the NHL’s Dallas Stars, which play close by.

The UB women input the match with a 16-2-1 file as the No. 2 seed within the ACHA Division II East location. It’s their fifth-straight experience to nationals. The team notched its first country-wide match victory the remaining year with the aid of defeating Liberty University. “It’s a huge honor for this system and a terrific possibility to get our name out. Not a whole lot of people realize that UB has a women’s ice hockey team,” says membership president Megan Pofi, a senior defenseman from Wheatfield who’s performed all four years. By numbers, the women’s group has frequently had fewer players than a whole lot of the competition, mainly at nationals. To alternate that, Pofi made it her undertaking the remaining year to unfold the phrase about UB women’s hockey.

“The 2nd we point out that our team makes it to nationals every 12 months, the more interested ladies are with attending UB,” said Pofi, a commercial enterprise administration primary with awareness in advertising and information analytics. She and some of her teammates tabled at women hockey nation tournaments and other events, bringing with them the playoff trophies they won and the banners they obtained for advancing to nationals. The attempt paid off, and the group now has a bigger roster of talented players. “We are confident this 12 months with our numbers that we can in the end push and make it farther inside the event,” she stated. UB can bounce back from a three-2 loss to Liberty inside the College Hockey East event semifinals held over the weekend. (The loss doesn’t affect UB’s nationals bid.)

Meanwhile, the guys’ team is making its second consecutive appearance in the ACHA Division I tourney. They misplaced ultimate yr to Davenport in their first game. The Bulls have by no means received a recreation at nationals on account of joining the ACHA as a membership team in 1989; previous to that, UB hockey turned into a varsity sport from 1969-87. Until lately, there weren’t many possibilities. The men had only been to the event once before 2015. Since then, they’ve superior to nationals three times, two times beneath head teach Jeremy Kersten, who served as an assistant for several seasons before taking on in 2016. UB punched its price ticket to Texas using defeating Canisius, 2-1, within the Northeast Collegiate Hockey League (NECHL) event. It’s the second one immediately year the Bulls have gained the NECHL Memorial Cup. UB is the No. 19 seed and will play No. 14 Missouri State at 1:30 p.M. Principal time Thursday.

The extension to the season approach UB’s seniors gets to spend a bit greater time together. “They’re the maximum a hit senior magnificence right here ever. Back-to-returned regular-season and playoff championships, two journeys to nationals — no program’s finished that before at UB,” says Kersten, who works complete time as a business supervisor in UB’s Center for the Arts. Cole Schiffman, a senior accounting principal and the membership group’s president, has played for the Bulls all four years and remembers the quality of UB groups that performed earlier than him. “I’m nonetheless friends with a lot of the older guys that had been seniors or graduated earlier than I got here right here, and I realize how properly their teams had been. It’s pretty cool to know where the most a success,” Schiffman stated. “It’s an honor knowing how to top those men had been while we have been searching as much as them as inexperienced persons. Now, we’re the ones guys, and we’ve got anyone searching up to us.”

For fellow senior Ryall Ledyard, the journey to Dallas can be a homecoming. He was born there while his dad, Grant Ledyard, played with the Dallas Stars inside the mid-90s. Grant’s 18-yr NHL profession blanketed a 4-yr stint with the Sabres. He’s now serving as an assistant coach with the Bulls. “I have some buddies and own family there still, so it’ll be amazing to look them and feature them come watch us play,” Ryall said. “It’s proper competition down there, and it’s going to be a task. However, we’re looking forward to it.” For both teams, the journey to Dallas comes with a value that wasn’t budgeted, and each is paying for flights and other prices out of pocket due to Student Association restrictions on fundraisers. Individuals and companies, however, can contribute to assist defray charges.