Penn club hockey teams skate to prominence in post-Ivy League era

Twenty years after losing its varsity team, Penn hockey has found a niche. Two questions always arise when hockey at Penn is mentioned. The first question students ask about Penn hockey is, Penn has a hockey team? The answer is yes, Penn does have a hockey team. In fact, Penn has two. The second is, Why doesn't Penn have a varsity hockey team? This is a question that runs through the minds of all the hockey fans on campus. Penn already has a home arena (the Class of '23 Rink), but the problem is Penn's unwillingness to invest the money for two varsity hockey teams. "I think every college needs a varsity team," said Lisa Bard, who starts in goal for the women's team. Nevertheless, most players are satisfied playing for a club team. "I am perfectly happy with my decision," Roman Krislav, Penn's leading scorer on the men's team, said. "I was able to play competitively here for four years, and the team's time requirements matched what I wanted to give." From 1966 to 1978 Penn had a men's varsity team which lost its athletic funding when the Athletic Department had a $500,000 debt. The men's team, which was originally a club team, went back to playing at the club level and has been there ever since. "Penn had a very competitive, fledgling program," Tim Taylor, current Yale varsity hockey coach, said. "We were disappointed when they lost their team because the effort to institute the program was positive for the league." Taylor, the 1994 U.S. Olympic Hockey coach and head coach of currently No. 6 ranked Yale for the last 19 years, debunks any myth that Penn isn't capable of supporting successful varsity hockey teams. The women never had a varsity hockey team, but had a club team in 1978. That program was also cut by Penn Athletic Director Andy Geiger in 1978, but the Penn's women's hockey club was rejuvenated in the early 1980s. Currently, Penn and Columbia are the only two Ivy League schools without varsity hockey pro grams, while the other six Ivies are in the Eastern College Athletic Conference, which is one of hockey's elite Division I conferences. The Men's club hockey team is one of 12 teams in the Delaware Valley Collegiate Hockey Conference (DVCHC). The conference is broken into two six-team divisions: the Southeast Division, in which Penn plays, and the Northwest Division. In its second season in the conference, Penn (12-9-1, 10-4 in league) qualified for the playoffs by finishing at least third in their division. The Quakers can win the division title with a win Friday at Franklin and Marshall and a St. Joseph's loss. If the Quakers do not finish first then it looks like they will play Princeton's club team in the opening round of the playoffs. "Our goal was make to the playoffs," Penn coach Dave Heary said. "Now our goal is the Championship Cup. We're turning the corner. We're going to be a team to reckon with in our league." Krislav netted his 13th goal of the season in a 5- 5 tie against Drexel one week ago today. Three days after tying Drexel, Penn defeated the Northwest Division-leading Millersville, 3-0. Considering that Penn opened its season with an 11-1 loss against Drexel, the team's late season success gives it a lot to be proud of. "We wanted to prove to ourselves that we've made it to a new level of hockey," said sophomore Josh Remick, who is also president of the Men's Hockey Club. "I think we showed it [last Thursday] night. It was the most rewarding feeling I've had as a Penn hockey player." The men's team predominantly plays clubs team, but they occasionally play charity games against teams such as the Philadelphia Fire Department. Since the men's and women's hockey teams are club level teams, the Athletic Department does not fund their existence. The hockey teams get a decent portion of their funds from the Student Activities Council. This, however, is not enough to even pay for their ice time. Therefore, students pay dues ranging from $200-$300 per season. The men's team also runs a telethon in an attempt to gain alumni support. Recently, Ed Little, Class of '63, donated $5,000 to both the men's and women's hockey programs. Little played for the men's club team in his days here in the early 1960s before the team went varsity. Neither the men's or women's team actively recruit. Instead, they use word-of-mouth to get hockey players on campus aware of the team. The men's team is in the process of getting sponsors for next season. Although Penn features club teams, some of the hockey players could have played for Division III schools, namely women's co-captains Nicole Terry and Lisa Bard, who both played for competitive New England hockey programs in high school. Both Terry and Bard played against 1998 U.S. Olympian A.J. Mleczko in high school. "The club was more of an attraction than Division III hockey," said Bard, who has been starting in goal for the last four seasons. "I had the ability to participate in other things." Both hockey teams only practice twice a week, primarily because the cost of ice time at the rink is so expensive. This enables the players to participate in other activities. This, however, is not the only reason some of the hockey players enjoy their club status. "It'd be nice to have a varsity team, but I'm grateful that I can play here," Remick said. The structure of the women's team is quite a contrast to that of the men's. The women (8-8-3) are not in a league and play a wider array of teams, including Division III varsity teams, college club teams, regional club teams and high school teams. The Quakers were going to join a league with mid-Atlantic women's club teams, but the league fell through. Presently, Rutgers is in the process of creating a club league for collegiate teams. Last weekend, Penn's hosted Rutgers in their annual Penn band game. Every year the Penn band comes to the frosty Class of '23 Rink to support the women's team. Penn dropped the contest 1-0, despite good play at both sides of the ice. Penn defeated Rutgers last semester, but Rutgers has since added many players to their roster. "There is a very wide range of skill and experience," coach Kevin Coloton said. "Everyone is eager to learn new techniques and strategies of the game. They all come to practice and work very hard." The Red and Blue play their final home game February 28 against the Chesapeake Women's Club Team. Although Penn has been lacking varsity hockey for the last 20 years, two hockey teams exist on campus, and they are quite successful. Not only is the men's team in a stable league, but they are succeeding also. The women may be headed in a similar direction. For the mean time, the women's team has a quality record with a schedule that includes games against varsity programs. What the future holds for Penn hockey nobody knows. What people should know is that the present holds two legitimate hockey teams that love to play one the most expensive, yet popular, collegiate sports.

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