Friday’s crowd, with the help of 5,000 Thundersticks, at the Houston Field House was one of the loudest I’ve experienced. The excited swarm of fans was able to help our team keep the Cornell Big Red from scoring, tallying a shutout for the Engineers. Friday’s game wasn’t just a win against the number-one-seeded team in ECACHL; it lost Cornell two spots in the playoffs, pushing them into the number-three seed.
We also secured home ice advantage in this weekend’s playoffs two weeks ago, setting us up against Quinnipiac. With the same energy and noise, from the stands we could beat the Bobcats and advance to the second round.
This past Saturday’s game versus Colgate was dead silent. It was so silent that I could hear the referees talking on the ice. This drastic drop in energy shouldn’t be happening. Every game needs to have the energy of Freakout!, Whiteout, or Black Friday. We have a 12-0-4 record in Freakout! the last 16 years. With support like that every game, our team could be much more successful. Saturday’s game didn’t pick up in energy until halfway through the third period when the referee made a questionable call on a goal. It shouldn’t take a bad call like that to get a crowd excited about our team and the game. Had that energy been present in the Field House from the moment our team stepped onto the ice, that goal might not have been needed to win the game. The energy from the fans energizes the team and motivates them to play harder.
All the sports teams at RPI are playing for you. This isn’t professional sports where athletes are traded and sold between cities. The reason fans get excited about college sports is because the athletes are playing for and representing their school. RPI athletes play for our school, so go support them.
One way you can help back our athletes is by joining the Red Army next year. The Red Army is replacing this year’s Go Be Red improving on that initiative. The Red Army will not be a competition. It will simply be a group of students who enjoy going to sporting events and cheering on our athletes. The Red Army will also include season tickets to hockey games, and we will organize trips to important away games.
Last weekend, RPI hockey showed that our team can play with and defeat the top teams in the ECACHL. We are a force to be reckoned with in the upcoming playoffs, and Quinnipiac and Colgate know that. If we have the fan base to energize our team at every game, we could be at the pinnacle of our league.
Tickets are on sale now for the games this weekend at the Field House. They are at 7 pm on Friday and Saturday; and there will also be a game on Sunday, if necessary. Go to the Field House this weekend and cheer the Engineers into the second round of the ECACHL playoffs!
