Fresno State Hockey Hits the Ice Again
Fresno State Athletics have been the eye-catchers over the past couple months. The football team is off to its best start since 2013 and was ranked in the AP poll. Both Women’s Soccer and Volleyball have also already surpassed their records from the 2022 season as well.
But what isn’t seen or covered on TV is the club sports that happen on campus. In particular, one club, that hasn’t been able to hit its icy home in nearly four years.
The Fresno State Hockey Club is back at the Gateway Ice Center, where they have been waiting to skate again after a long four-year hiatus.
Why the long break? Well, when COVID hit, a lot of club sports were put out of commission, including the Hockey Club.
However, with the dedication of Zachary Ortiz, now club president and defenseman turned goalie, the team was able to get back into the rink.
“It was painstaking,” said Ortiz about the struggle of getting the team together. “We started in January, but we had a lot of help with the university like Dr. Willis. Having his support helped out tremendously and we were able to pick this off the ground. It was a lot of sleepless nights, but it was all worth it. The fans love it.”
And the fans loved it indeed. During the team’s home opener last month, fans filled the spectator areas of the Gateway Ice Center to cheer on the team, even with the 9:45 P.M. start time.
“That was awesome seeing the crowd,” said Ortiz about the turnout the club got. “Even the student section was going crazy. I thought they were going to break the glass.”
The home debut was also the debut of the new look of the Ice Dogs, as they showed off the new branding and the new jerseys the program came up with, thanks to some help from the university.
Willis, the university’s vice president of Student Affairs and Enrollment, was not only there side-by-side with the Hockey team, but he was also there to drop the ceremonial first puck.
“We have a long history of successful club sports programs,” said Willis about how bringing back the hockey club expands the success of club sports at Fresno State. “So we thought that joining the American Collegiate Hockey Association and getting this team going would be a good way of showcasing the interest that our students have and just the many different talents we have on campus.”
And this is just the start. Fresno State Hockey will be having a three-game homestand this week starting on Friday the 13th as they face Santa Clara. Then they have two more games on the weekend as they face the Slugs of Santa Cruz.
Get tickets online at the Fresno State Hockey website, or you can watch the streams broadcast on their Twitch Channel.
