SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC NEWS) — Following a pair of thrilling overtime victories, the Syracuse University women’s ice hockey team takes home the C.H.A. Championship Title. Despite looking ahead to the N.C.A.A. Tournament, the general Syracuse population shows little recognition of the accomplishment.
Syracuse University sophomore Lexie Johnson said she had no idea the team won anything. She said she figured the team “probably would’ve gotten like a post or something on some popular Syracuse-affiliated Instagram page or something.”
Many stores in the city boast Syracuse sports apparel. Two stores on Marshall Street, “Shirt World” and “Manny’s,” host racks of clothing with the Syracuse logo, many of which are specific to different school sports. Shirt World displayed one line of Syracuse hockey hats, and Manny’s presented one Syracuse hockey shirt and one hat.
Manny’s Co-Owner Bill Nester said he likes S.U. hockey, but he understands that the team does not garner a lot of money. He said, “It’s what we call one of the minor sports, you know basketball, football, lacrosse are major ones and everything else we call minor. I know it offends a lot of people, but it’s just based on sales.”
Head Coach Paul Flanagan said the championship elevates the profile of his team. The two-time C.H.A. Champion said, “To raise our profile and bring notoriety to our program and our sport has been awesome.”
Syracuse awaits the selection show on Sunday to find out their first round opponent.
