Mississippi’s Quinten Humphrey drives the puck past a Georgia Tech defender during a hockey game in Tupelo, Miss., Saturday, Nov. 15, 2014. (Photo/Thomas Graning)
For a program that has only been around for six years, the Ole Miss hockey team has had a run of success that many other programs wish they could attain.
The team advanced to nationals for the third straight season by beating South Florida on Saturday and fourth seed Christopher Newport University on Friday in the regionals to advance to the nationals in Pelham, Alabama.
It was an unlikely story for the team to advance to nationals. The team is completely self-funded and has made many efforts through the course of the season to raise money to afford the trip to regionals in Orlando over the weekend.
The team has received support like never before, and the trip to Orlando was successful, with a happy ending to go along with it.
“It’s been tremendous. It’s good to see that,” head coach Angelo Rosena said about the funding and attention the team has received. “We’re potentially doing something groundbreaking here at The University of Mississippi as far as hockey in the state goes. As far as collegiate hockey, it’s great to see that there is this amount of support in such a small span.”
A program that has only been around for such a small period of time doesn’t get a lot of attention or expectations put on them. Not a lot of people saw Ole Miss making another run to nationals, but the team has embraced the role of the underdog and has flown under the radar in many people’s eyes.
“I really think the underdog role has helped us,” forward Cameron Cook, a graduate IMC major from Long Hill, New Jersey, said. “For some reason, and I don’t hate it, but we always find a way to win at regionals and to get to nationals. That’s definitely something we use as an advantage for us.”
In his second season as captain, Sean Rogers, a civil engineering graduate student from Biloxi, Mississippi, has seen the change this team has gone through, and he is proud of his teammates and of the work they have put in to get to this point.
The team expects a lot this time at nationals, after going 0-3 last year and 1-2 in 2013. Rogers says it’s time “to make a splash.”
“I’m just incredibly proud to be able to be on this team in the first place,” Rogers said. “There’s only three or four teams in the nation that can say that they’ve been to nationals in the last three years like we have.”
The Rebels aren’t the only team that will be representing the Southeastern Conference in the tournament. Alabama and Arkansas will join Ole Miss at nationals from the SEC.
Alabama is widely recognized as one of the top club hockey teams in the country, as they were ranked as high as 2nd in the country. The Rebels split the season series 1-1 and have always played the Frozen Tide to the best of their abilities.
“Whenever we play them it’s something special, and we know our backs are up against the wall,” Cook said. “We always know how to win and get the job done against Alabama. It’s awesome to see Alabama and Arkansas joining us and representing the SEC at nationals.”
While the role of the underdog has helped the team, the term can get annoying at times, but it’s nothing that is too bothersome.
“It’s not really annoying,” Cook said. “People always post online saying, ‘Ole Miss is going to lose first game’ and all that nonsense. It doesn’t really bother us.”
Rosena had a different approach to the underdog role as he talked about the confidence of his team and the talent that is in place there.
“I guess we seem to be successful with the mindset that we’re taking,” Rosena said. “In all honesty, I think we have a really good team. Maybe to an outsider’s perspective, I can see that with us coming off as an underdog. With us being there three years in a row, I don’t see it as a fluke.”
Rosena said the mindset of the team on their first trip to nationals was just being happy that they made it there. Now that advancing to nationals seems to be a regular occurrence, it will be a different approach.
“If we come with our ‘A’ game and we can make it out of pool play, anything can happen,” Rosena said. “It’s just all mental. The mentality has to be: ‘We’re at nationals. Let’s win games.’ We’ll be ready.”
