Hockey is almost as big a part of RIT’s identity as Ritchie or bricks, so it’s hard to believe that there are still students out there who have never been to a game. Until Friday’s game against Robert Morris University I was one of these students and I can honestly say I was missing out.

I arrived at the Polisseni Center around 6:30 p.m., which in case you haven’t seen, it looks pretty impressive at night with all the lights on. I entered the arena and was greeted by our friendly mascot Ritchie. After a couple quick pictures of Ritchie’s crazy shenanigans I headed over to grab my seat and when I sat down, I got my first glimpse of the RIT Zambonis. Instantly filled with jealousy over the fact I don’t have one of these for my winter commute, I watched, mesmerized, as the Zamboni traveled up and down the ice preparing for the game.

After a few minutes the Zambonis finished their job and Rocky, the announcer, came over the PA system and started drumming up the hype as he announced the night’s sponsors and events. Next thing I know the refs are skating onto the ice to the “Imperial March,” which apparently is a long-standing tradition here at RIT and can even be seen in this older video taken at Ritter Arena.

Once the refs were done making their circles around the ice, inspecting the goals and the rinks, the lineups were announced. Now this might have been my first hockey game, but I have been to many professional basketball and football games over the years and I can say the crowd response at this game was like nothing I have ever seen before. The school spirit and pride shined through as the crowd, led by the Corner Crew, heckled and booed the opposing team as they took the ice. The arena erupted when the Tigers took the ice as fans screamed louder than 14-year-old girls at a Justin Bieber concert. After the lineups were announced, the teams began warming up as the pep band and corner crew worked together to play the opposing team a catchy tune about their level of skill.

All the pregame fun quieted down, the starting lineups took the ice for the opening faceoff. The crowd seemed to hang on every pass and their emotion and passion for RIT hockey showed. It wasn’t just the crowd filled with emotion— the players also seemed to be fired up as some early pushing and shoving tested the refs’ patience and resulted in some early penalties for both squads, which just seemed to rile up the crowd even further.

The Corner Crew led more chants like the “ugly goalie” chant every time the opposing goalie took off their mask to get a drink of water or the “OH S**T” chants every time RIT takes a shot on goal. The crowd and the chants were possibly my favorite part of the game, as they seemed to put in a lot of thought to come up with clever catchy ways to help psych out and trash talk the opposing teams and give our boys the home ice advantage. In all, only one goal was scored during the first period and sadly it wasn’t by our Tigers.

Once the first period was over I headed to the concession stand and picked up one of my favorite sporting event treats, the soft pretzel, and then got back to my seat just in time to see the first intermission promotion. For the promotion they had fans who signed up ahead of time try to land a Frisbee as close to center ice as they could, and the closest received a gift card courtesy of the night’s sponsor. I think it’s fair to say after the crowd’s showing that RIT will not be wining any ultimate Frisbee championships in the near future.

After the promotion, the Zambonis took the ice to fix up the rink for the next period of play. During intermission the scoreboard counts down to the next period so fans have a good understanding of how long they have to hit the rest room or the concession stand without missing any of the action. The second period of play went much like the first, a passionate crowd, a lot of pushing, shoving and animosity between the teams, and a couple of goals scored by RMU. The second intermission also featured a “How close to the center ice can you get?” game, but this time with hockey pucks. The results were much better, once again proving that RIT’s true calling is hockey and not Frisbee.

Sadly the last period of play was like any sporting event blowout. The crowd seemed demoralized and out of it. The chants slowly came to an end as the final buzzer sounded and RIT was shutout, 0-4. Apparently the results were much better Saturday night as RIT beat the same team 6-3. Despite the score, the game was still an amazing experience that you should really check out if you haven’t before. The crowd, the food, the games, the pep band, the Corner Crew, and just the overall atmosphere can turn even the most reluctant attendee into a fanatic. My only regret is that it took me until my senior year to go to a game but I can assure you I will be at many more this season.