Many current undergraduate students at Indiana know they weren’t alive the last time the Hoosiers made the final four in March. But what many don’t realize is that another Indiana team has done what the basketball team has been attempting to do for the past two decades.
During the winter season, most Indiana University fans, students, and alumni are enticed with university athletics. The basketball program at Indiana gains more attention than most other teams across other universities throughout the country.
However, while the excitement can overcome the town of Bloomington and the state of Indiana, it can often cause people to overlook the other sports during the same season.
Overlooked and unrecognized. The Indiana men’s hockey team fails to receive the same attention as most other sports at IU. This is most likely a result of Indiana’s lack of a Division I hockey program.
“The guys can really take more pride in it because they are Indiana University’s hockey team,” said IU hockey broadcaster Garrett Drake, “That’s what makes it stand out too, they are the highest level of hockey on campus. ”
Garrett Drake ’24 is the Voice of IU Hockey
The Hoosier’s sport a Division II ice hockey program that maintains its mature status as a club team. As a member of the American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA), Indiana plays in the Tri-State Collegiate Hockey League (TSCHL). In this league, the Hoosiers face teams from Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, and Michigan.
But this isn’t your typical run-of-the-mill club team.
In the last two years, the IU club hockey team has made it to the national tournament at the Division II level. And last season, they continued to open eyes, making it to the Final Four.
“Especially now that we’ve proven ourselves the last two years going to nationals, I think we deserve more attention. Not only from IU itself but the student body, ” said IU forward Patrick Brandeburg.
However, this year’s team has proven that last year was anything but a fluke. The Hoosiers have continued to build off the momentum of their recent success and become a national powerhouse at the D2 level.
Drew Micheli ’23 is the president of the Indiana club hockey team
Off to their best start in program history, 13-2, Indiana has put themselves on the map. So far this season, Indiana sits in first place in the TSCHL and has outscored their opponents with a goal differential of 43.
Indiana has 15 more games remaining on the regular season schedule. The men on the ice will continue to take it game by game, with an eye on the postseason.
