11/5/2012

Over the weekend, the University of Toledo football team wasn’t the only Rocket sports team gaining national attention.  While the football team cracked the top 25 in the national AP Poll, the UT hockey team earned the number six spot in the southeast region after its first ranking period.

Unlike the football team, Toledo’s hockey team is a club sport on campus but that certainly doesn’t mean they have nothing to play for.  As members of the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA), the Rockets compete against 185 other programs at the Division 2 level.  These teams are broken down into four geographic regions.  Every four weeks, a ranking committee made up of league officials and coaches, evaluates the performance of each team in the region and ranks the top fifteen.  After the final rankings in February, the top two teams from each region earn automatic bids to the national tournament.  Teams three through eight in each region are then invited to a regional tournament.  The top two teams at each regional tournament are then also invited to nationals.

The Rocket’s number six ranking is quite an accomplishment for a team that finished unranked last year and hasn’t been ranked in almost ten years.  General manager Greg Urig had this to say about the achievement, “I’m very proud of our players and staff.  Earning this ranking is a testament to the work we’ve put in not just this year but all of last year as well.  We really laid the foundation for this last year and I’m just glad the hard work is starting to pay off.”

The foundation Urig mentions are the 23 total wins the team was able to put together during the ’11-’12 season giving them a 23-9 overall record and a Tri-State Collegiate Hockey League Championship (TSCHL).  The team has carried that momentum into the current season posting an eight and four record thus far.  Included in those eight wins are two convincing victories over Bowling Green State University which helped propel the Rockets into their current ranking position.  The team now turns its sights on six straight TSCHL games before the next ranking period ends.

To learn more about the team, you can find them online at www.utoledohockey.com .  The Rocket’s next home game is this Saturday, November 10, at 8:30 pm against the University of Dayton.  The team’s home rink is the Toledo Ice House located at 1258 W. Alexis Rd.