UF’s Ice Hockey club skated away with the Thrasher Cup after winning the Savannah Tire Hockey Classic in Savannah, Ga., last weekend.
Three Gators, including goalie Casey Ferris, team captain Jonathan Pavlinec and defenseman Matt Stankowicz, made the all-tournament team.
After beating both Univeristy of Georgia and Florida State Univeristy, the team’s record is now 8-4.
Ferris, a senior, said he thinks the team is winning because the players have bonded more than in previous years.
Ferris said the team has never defeated Georgia and FSU in the same tournament until this year.
Ferris, a three-year veteran, was happy to see the team grab the attention of other teams and more than 5,000 fans who attended.
“We’re finally getting recognized in our division,” he said.
The club team, founded in 1996, competes in Division III in the American Collegiate Hockey Association.
But second-year head coach Joel Pagett said the players approach the sport as if they were playing in Division I, which is their goal.
“We’re definitely committed to getting the team to the next level,” he said.
As a member of the Southeastern Collegiate Hockey Conference, the club plays familiar SEC opponents, including Univeristy of Alabama and Univeristy of Tennessee, in the regular season — October through February.
The players have nowhere to practice in Gainesville, so they make a weekly trip to Jacksonville Wednesday nights to get on the ice.
Despite the recent winning streak, assistant coach Dan Boutin said the team’s poor history has kept it from cracking the rankings, which are determined through a coaches’ poll.
He insists, however, that it only inspires the team more.
“I’m smiling inside because it’s a motivational tool,” he said.
The Gators’ next game is against Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University at Jacksonville Ice & Sportsplex at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
