Through sweat, hard work, and dedication, West Chester University’s D3 men’s ice hockey season is coming to an end. Their record as of Feb. 6 is 13-2-0. Their goal from the get-go was to make it to ACHA regionals in Rochester, New York. They hoped to make this dream attainable. With one game left to be rescheduled due to the snow storm over the weekend of Feb. 6, the Rams still have a shot of making it. So far, they have had an admirable season proving to be a strong competitor worth noticing.
The first half of the season showed full potential for winning the majority of their second-half games. Beating teams such as Stockton, Widener and Alvernia at the beginning of their season, legitimized their newfound debut in the DVCHC (Delaware Valley Collegiate Hockey Conference).
West Chester’s confidence was definitely at an all-time high after their multiple victories. They were completely unstoppable, except for the fact that Tim Chubb, Levi Jekel and Tony Bornascella suffered injuries during the Widener game. After some time, the players healed and were ready to compete again. The team continued to practice every Wednesday night to hone in their skills.
In the second half of their season, West Chester beat teams such as Rutgers, East Stroudsburg, Neumann and Widener, just to name a few. These team’s skills were somewhat matched to those of the Golden Rams.
They only lost two games the whole season against Penn State-Brandywine. The Rams put up a good fight against Brandywine in both games, but just could not end up with those victories.
The team’s spirit was not brought down one bit. Although the team had that slight halt in their winning streak, the rest of their games resulted in well-deserved wins. They continued to play up to their ability. The Rams had two shut outs against Shippensburg on Nov. 11, and against Penn State-Berks on Jan. 30.
The entirety of the three twenty-minute periods of every game have been full of frantic fights for the puck and quick skating for domination. The Ram’s team members had each other’s backs no matter what the circumstance.
In multiple instances there have been fights that broke out in response to cheap shots towards West Chester. The Golden Rams did not have to think twice about sticking up for each other and have received their fair share of suspensions in result from this pride.
West Chester has obviously made their mark as an intense competitor. This power-house team has proven themselves time and time again that they are highly skilled and eager to fight for each earned win.
West Chester’s opponents were not as comparable with their skills as their own’. Throughout the entirety of the season, each player has stayed committed and willing to work hard. The Golden Rams have tried to take the tenth seed from Siena for regionals in Rochester, but due to the weak teams scheduled to play them, this goal has not been achieved as of now.
Hopefully the team gets shifted to that one seat up to continue to compete. Time will only tell the success of this season if they make regionals or not.
Whitney Peters is a sophomore student majoring in Elementary Education with a minor in Business and Technical Writing. She can be reached at WP725853@wcupa.edu.