Hockey earns spot its first-ever post-season game
By Cody Lillich
The Texas A&M hockey team is entering uncharted territory – entering the playoffs for the first time.
The Aggies finished the season 20-8-0, after completing one of the toughest schedules the team has seen. The team went to a tournament featuring tough teams at Colorado and San Jose State University.
The team will travel to the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, Colo. for the first game in the American Collegiate Hockey Association West Regional. The Aggies are matched against No. 3-ranked Eastern Washington University for their first-ever playoff.
The team reached this point by grabbing a top ten ranking in the region and Coach Sean Boyle said the team had to play some very tough teams in order to be in the regional hunt.
“I’ve said it all along, if we can make it to regionals, I think we have a good shot at nationals,” he said. “But getting to regionals was the hardest part for us because nobody else plays the University of North Texas or UTSA. So it’s very hard for [the American Collegiate Hockey Association] to rank us based on teams they never see.”
Team president and senior forward Jeff Diltz said the team will have a tough matchup against EWU, but the Aggies can still compete.
“It will be a very tough game,” he said. “Some people have even said that they are the No. 3 team, they easily could have been the No. 2 team. Saying that, we surprised the No. 4 and No. 5 team with games we should have won at the end, but let them slip away. We’re hoping to surprise them at the beginning of the game, and carry that on through the whole game.
“If we play our style against them, and play the way we can play, we can play with anybody, but our problem has been a bit of consistency.”
Boyle is in his first year leading the Aggies. He played four years and coached at Weber State University in Utah and said he is fortunate to come in to a program with such a good group of players.
“I’ve been very lucky to come in here as a first year coach,” he said. “These seniors on this team have showed the other guys what it means to work hard and just because you don’t win your first season – just keep going.”
The Aggies have some depth on the team with several players contributing to the team. That depth extends to the goalie position with four total goalies on the squad. Two of those four, junior Clair Gannon and senior Kyle Vrla, have seen starts this season and seem to have a competition going on to see who gets the start.
“We’ve switched off every game this year,” Vrla said. “And this last one we’re having to work hard in practice, but whichever way it goes I think our team will be able to trust us. This is the first year we’ve ever had four goalies. Having four goalies on our squad really helps out at practice; we all push each other to do better.”
Boyle said that competition is good for the team and helps them grow.
“It’s been good to see the friendly rivalry between Kyle and Clair,” he said. “Competition always brings out the best in each player and that’s what we’re looking to do each year – to get more guys on the team… so each practice is a competition to see who will play in the game.”
Not only is it the first time Texas A&M has reached the playoffs, it is the first time any Texas team in the ACHA has reached the playoffs.
“The Texas teams usually don’t receive as much respect as we wanted between us Texas and Texas Tech,” Diltz said. “We wanted them to respect the position that we’re in that we’re farther away from much of the competition.”
For Diltz, who has been on the team since he was a freshman, the regionals are a sight he did not expect to see.
“I didn’t think we’d ever get here, but it’s been my goal to get here this year,” he said. “It’s kind of the pinnacle of my hockey career.”
Coach Boyle said the seniors on the team have played in the season with some added motivation.
“Those guys have helped lead this season knowing this is it for them,” he said. “So why not go out and achieve the goal.”
Vrla said “Words can’t describe [going to regionals as a senior]. We’re enjoying every minute of it and I’m glad we get this opportunity.”
For junior forward Nathan Banks he is optimistic about the post season and is also looking forward to what his senior season may have in store.
“It’s getting tougher,” he said. “This year we made regionals, next year we have to go further beyond that.”
In order to go beyond that this year, Coach Boyle said the team has spent a lot of time conditioning in practice for play against EWU.
“We know the systems. We know the stuff,” he said. “I told them if we can get in as good of shape as we can by skating hard that will give us another advantage over Eastern Washington.”
Vrla said the preparation for EWU has “been similar to training camp. Training camp was two a days for a week and pretty much all skating. Having a practice where it’s strictly skating and conditioning is not a typical practice.”
Banks said this regional game is about much more than a playoff game, it is about playing for more than the team itself and making a statement.
“First of all we have the Aggie Spirit here, the huge bond the whole team carries through, and we’re also representing the whole state of Texas considering a Texas team has never been to Regionals,” he said. “It shows that even down here in Texas we can still hang with Colorado, San Jose, teams like that, so it shows that we actually have real hockey down here.”
The Aggies’ game against the Eagles of Eastern Washington University is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 26 at 5pm at the University of Northern Colorado.