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Re: 2013-2014 Union Dutchmen - Can U Three Peat? (Part II)
Fantastic! Thanks for sharing....congrats!
Originally posted by UnionHockeyManiac
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Was last night a dream? I'm honestly still in a state of shock. I know I haven't been around as long as some of you guys, but from the time I arrived on Union's campus as a Freshman in 2006, I was hooked. I was instantly a diehard fan. I thought we were so lucky to have a D-1 hockey team at such a small school. I didn't learn a lot of the history until a few years went by, but I quickly realized that the other teams in the league (and in the country) looked at us as a joke.
One of my best memories was back on January 20th, 2007 when we beat Clarkson in OT on a goal by TJ Fox. Clarkson was ranked 7th in the country at the time. I didn't think it could get any better than that. I'm happy I was wrong. I was very, very wrong. I also remember conversations with my friends on the way to the rink for the games on Friday/Saturday asking what would be crazier: _________ or a Union National Championship. Regardless of what _________ was, a Union National Championship was almost always the crazier option.
It's memories like these that made last night so incredible. I also remember where I was the first time I saw us in the "also receiving votes" on the USCHO Poll. I remember the first time we cracked the top 20. I remember the first time someone explained to me what the PWR were and how it was pretty much never relevant for Union. At one point, we reached #7 in the PWR my senior year but it was early in the season.
Each season it seemed like a new goal was reached. Getting a bye in the ECAC tourney for the first time. Actually *winning* our first ECAC tourney series. Making it to the ECAC Final 4 for the first time. Making it to the ECAC Championship for the first time. Making the NCAA Tourney for the first time. Winning our first NCAA Tourney game. Making the Frozen Four for the first time. And now this: Making it to the Championship game and actually WINNING THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!!
Just being inside an arena with 18,000 other college hockey fans was incredible in itself. At one point late in the 1st Period, the "LET'S GO U" chant was so loud it seemed like the building was shaking. The Union showing was very impressive considering how small the school is -- It also didn't hurt that seemingly every ND/BC fan was pulling for Union as well.
We sure picked a good time to have our best offensive game of the season. Wilcox is an incredible goalie and the Minnesota defense is extremely tough so scoring 7 goals is an amazing accomplishment. The onslaught on the 1st period was unexpected and unlike anything I had ever seen before. The first period honestly felt like an entire game.
We have some phenomenal individual players, but Union truly plays like a team.
The Postgame celebration at Xfinity was epic and I'm glad I remember it. I saw a lot of my old friends from the hockey team (2006-2010) for the first time since graduating and they were equally as excited/in shock as me. President Ainlay also made a brief appearance proudly wearing his National Championship hat. This would also be a good time to mention how classy Minnesota fans are. I lost track of how many different fans came up to congratulate us on the National Championship. I kept getting stopped by fans wearing gopher jerseys to tell me what a great team we have and how we 100% deserved it. That made the celebration even more amazing. I was also lucky enough to get a piece of the net and the giant frozen four banner with all of the team logos that was hanging on the Xfinity/Enterprise stage.
I can't thank Coach Bennett, President Ainlay, and the players for giving us this Championship. None of the teams I root for had ever won it all until last night and it's a feeling I won't soon forget.
Sorry for the scattered rant -- I'm in a car on the way back from Philly and staying up/out until 5:00 didn't help.
One of my best memories was back on January 20th, 2007 when we beat Clarkson in OT on a goal by TJ Fox. Clarkson was ranked 7th in the country at the time. I didn't think it could get any better than that. I'm happy I was wrong. I was very, very wrong. I also remember conversations with my friends on the way to the rink for the games on Friday/Saturday asking what would be crazier: _________ or a Union National Championship. Regardless of what _________ was, a Union National Championship was almost always the crazier option.
It's memories like these that made last night so incredible. I also remember where I was the first time I saw us in the "also receiving votes" on the USCHO Poll. I remember the first time we cracked the top 20. I remember the first time someone explained to me what the PWR were and how it was pretty much never relevant for Union. At one point, we reached #7 in the PWR my senior year but it was early in the season.
Each season it seemed like a new goal was reached. Getting a bye in the ECAC tourney for the first time. Actually *winning* our first ECAC tourney series. Making it to the ECAC Final 4 for the first time. Making it to the ECAC Championship for the first time. Making the NCAA Tourney for the first time. Winning our first NCAA Tourney game. Making the Frozen Four for the first time. And now this: Making it to the Championship game and actually WINNING THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!!
Just being inside an arena with 18,000 other college hockey fans was incredible in itself. At one point late in the 1st Period, the "LET'S GO U" chant was so loud it seemed like the building was shaking. The Union showing was very impressive considering how small the school is -- It also didn't hurt that seemingly every ND/BC fan was pulling for Union as well.
We sure picked a good time to have our best offensive game of the season. Wilcox is an incredible goalie and the Minnesota defense is extremely tough so scoring 7 goals is an amazing accomplishment. The onslaught on the 1st period was unexpected and unlike anything I had ever seen before. The first period honestly felt like an entire game.
We have some phenomenal individual players, but Union truly plays like a team.
The Postgame celebration at Xfinity was epic and I'm glad I remember it. I saw a lot of my old friends from the hockey team (2006-2010) for the first time since graduating and they were equally as excited/in shock as me. President Ainlay also made a brief appearance proudly wearing his National Championship hat. This would also be a good time to mention how classy Minnesota fans are. I lost track of how many different fans came up to congratulate us on the National Championship. I kept getting stopped by fans wearing gopher jerseys to tell me what a great team we have and how we 100% deserved it. That made the celebration even more amazing. I was also lucky enough to get a piece of the net and the giant frozen four banner with all of the team logos that was hanging on the Xfinity/Enterprise stage.
I can't thank Coach Bennett, President Ainlay, and the players for giving us this Championship. None of the teams I root for had ever won it all until last night and it's a feeling I won't soon forget.
Sorry for the scattered rant -- I'm in a car on the way back from Philly and staying up/out until 5:00 didn't help.
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