By Geremy Bass
Staff writer
It went unnoticed by just about every student except those on the team when the women’s ice hockey team traveled to Philadelphia and defeated the University of Pennsylvania for the first time in its history, ending the Quakers’ two-season undefeated streak.
There probably won’t be more than 100 fans present when the women play American University at MCI Center in Washington on Feb. 11.
The most recent American Collegiate Hockey Association rankings that placed the Terps at No. 8 in the nation went almost unpublicized. But for this close-knit group of passionate athletes, the team and the game trump the importance of acclaim.
The 20 women on the team spend countless hours together “being more than teammates – close friends,” team president Erin Boyland said. Some play on the novice team, which mostly faces off against local club teams, and acts as a junior varsity team. Others compete in the Delaware Valley College Hockey Conference of the American Collegiate Hockey Association’s Women’s Division. Either way, it doesn’t matter, said assistant captain and goalie Ellie Dayhoff-Brannigan. The team is a family.
After practice at Herbert Wells Ice Rink in College Park Nov. 3, Dayhoff-Brannigan was interrupted before she could finish recounting the lengthy list of activities the team has done together. Boyland ran past, sticks and bag in hand, and extended an invitation: “EDB, you coming out with us tonight?”
“I didn’t know I was invited,” Dayhoff-Brannigan said.
“Oh, true,” Boyland said. “You probably shouldn’t come, then.”
Dayhoff-Brannigan smiled as Boyland darted off. “I love the team – I do,” she said. “It’s great that it gives all the girls a chance to play at this level.”
She went on to explain the reasoning behind her nickname, EDB, as well as the dozen other nicknames the team sticks to, ranging from Boston to 40 to MA.
Dayhoff-Brannigan’s goalie counterpart, junior Tori Duke, expressed the same feelings as her teammates.
“Being around the team, it’s like a home away from home,” Duke said. “It’s like a second family.”
The ladies told stories of their many escapades during their time off the rink. Some players went together to Washington Capitals games, wore their team jackets to see Miracle and spent a week in San Diego “just for fun.”
The team is classified as a club sport not affiliated with the university athletics department. Boyland said this means the Student Government, Campus Recreation Services and donations support the team, creating a budget of about $17,000 this year. Players pay for everything else, such as travel and food, out of their own pockets.
For an ice hockey team to be eligible for varsity status and compete in the NCAA, the university must own an ice rink, Boyland said. The team practices at Herbert Wells Ice Rink on Paint Branch Parkway and at Wheaton Ice Arena. It plays its home games at The Gardens Ice House in Laurel.
Joe Hull, senior associate athletics director, took over the Comcast Center’s building program in December 1997 and worked as the project manager until its completion in October 2002. Hull said the feasibility study had already been completed when he took over, but there was no discussion concerning adding a rink to the $125 million-dollar facility.
“There was a sense that there’s a rink down the street, and since Cole [Field House] didn’t have ice, we never really spoke about it,” Hull said.
Hull also worked on the construction of the RBC Center in Raleigh, N.C., which serves as home for the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes as well as North Carolina State’s basketball teams. He said the piece of equipment needed to control air moisture for the ice costs 4 to 6 million dollars.
“Say you have a basketball game one night and a hockey game the next,” Hull said. “That’s a lot of time and money – it’s quite a process.”
Although Comcast Center’s inlaid floor prevents the easy addition of an ice rink, Hull said adding one to Cole “seems like a possibility.”
Possibility or not, Boyland said the team will continue to press on, playing games up and down the East Coast almost every weekend and practicing twice a week.
“We do it because we love it,” team captain Erika Hyrowski said. “We’re a women’s team, so we don’t expect as much. We’re close on and off the ice, and that just makes it fun to play.”
At least five juniors on the team came to the university never having played before, and Hyrowski said their maturation over the past two years makes the team as competitive as she’s seen it.
Coach Bob DeGemmis, now in his fourth year with the team, said he’s watched the rookies turn into veterans and take over the leadership roles.
“I basically came in and started from scratch,” DeGemmis said. “[The first-time players] really are the heart and soul of our team now. Plus, we’re not losing any of them, so the quality should get better every year as they get more and more experience.”
First in the Southeastern region at (9-2, 6-0) the team looks to show the university that women’s ice hockey more than exists, it wins in College Park – site of the conference finals in February.
“We want to go to nationals this year,” Hyrowski said. “We’re all confident in the team and this year we really think we have a shot.”
Contact reporter Geremy Bass at bassdbk@gmail.com.
