What started as one goal, an ACCHL championship, quickly turned into another goal, and then another and another. This was the path that the NC State men’s club hockey team found itself on during its 2018-19 season.
The list of accolades is impressive for the Pack: an undefeated regular season, going 22-0-0 during that stretch with a plus-133 goal differential, an ACCHL regular season and tournament championship and a win over a Virginia team that beat them two years prior in the championship game. The Pack also had wins over Rider and Liberty, the hosting team in the ACHA D2 regionals, and qualified for the ACHA D2 Nationals, where the Pack won a game, finishing third in its pool.
“The ACC was our original goal,” said senior team captain Sam Banasiewicz. “Just kind of being on the borrowed time for regionals, our team hadn’t done that since I think it was 2004, even making it to regionals, so nobody really expected us to go there, and certainly we didn’t. Even to come out and win that first game, we were the first team from the ACCHL to win a regional game, let alone a second game, and qualify for nationals. I think it just goes to show how great this team was this year and what we were able to accomplish.”
Alongside the team’s achievements, the Wolfpack also had a few players receive individual honors. Banasiewicz was named ACCHL MVP and named to the ACHA D2 Southeast All-Region second team. Freshman Riley Johnson was named ACCHL Rookie of the Year, and graduate Eric Mura was named ACCHL Tournament MVP.
Banasiewicz and Johnson as well as juniors Laythe Jadallah and Ian O’Rourke were also named to the ACCHL All-Star team for the ACHA D2 All-Star competition on April 12-14.
The Wolfpack didn’t do it alone. The team had the support of not only NC State fans, but also fans of North Carolina hockey. The Wolfpack started a GoFundMe to help raise money for its travel to nationals with an initial goal of $10,000, which was matched by an anonymous donor. This goal was smashed within seven hours of uploading the fundraiser. The community poured in support for the team, raising over $33,000 in a little over a month.
“People talk about how much money was raised on GoFundMe, but I think the more important part was how many people pitched in.” said senior goaltender Joey Hall. “The final amount was over $30,000, but the fact that it came from like 300 people was even more impressive. I coach a 12-U local youth team, and I saw parents of kids I coached donating to it. It really touches you. It’s more than NC State’s team, it’s North Carolina’s, it’s Raleigh’s team.”
Officially, NC State’s winning streak for the 2018-2019 season was 27 games long, losing its only two games in ACHA Nationals pools. The first loss came against top-seeded Massachusetts, and the only other loss they saw came in its final match of pools against Trine University.
The Pack still managed to pull off a win against second-seeded Northern Colorado between those two losses to really make a stand. With a win at that level, NC State solidified itself as a team capable of competing on the national stage.
“Our goal was just making a statement,” Banasiewicz said. “After losing the first match to UMass, we kind of realized that our chances probably weren’t the best to advance to the semifinals, but we still wanted to come out. It wasn’t ‘Oh hey, let’s go have fun in Dallas for a week,’ it was more, ‘We still need to come out and play our best,’ and we were the first team from our league and out of franchise history to even get a win at nationals.”
A large calling card and phrase the Wolfpack had been running with was “silence the doubters,” an homage to the many that consider North Carolina a nontraditional and lackluster hockey team. However, NC State has shown everyone that it’s here to compete.
“We’re growing the game,” said senior alternate captain Ryan Kinney. “It’s been growing in the south for a while now, but just having a club hockey team from North Carolina State University has been monumental. Even the [Carolina] Hurricanes recognized what we were doing, with letting us play at PNC Arena and supporting us by giving us a portion of the sales for lower bowl tickets to help us get to Nationals. Even they recognized what a difference we were making for hockey in the south.”
An emotional journey for sure, the team spoke about one another as if they had known each other all their lives. This season formed a bond that the team will always share, but for some of the older guys, including Banasiewicz and Hall, this was still their final season.
“[My final game] was always in the back of my mind,” Banasiewicz said. “We were always trying to do our best, but in the back of our minds we knew, or at least I knew, it was going to be my last game. I’ve been here for five years, and it’s been a lot of fun. This was the best possible year to go out on, and this is the best this team has done in its history, so to be able to call it my last was an honor.”
Looking on to next season, the Pack is set to come back with the same expectations and spirit it showed this year. With returning faces and some new ones, it is up to returning players to step into the leadership roles that will be vacant.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Kinney said. “We still have a good group of guys left. We are losing six seniors, so that’s not fun, but all we can do is hope we get some people willing to fill in the roles when they come in as freshmen or transfers, and that the guys returning from this year are willing to set an example for the new guys and show them what it takes to get to Nationals again.”
