STEVENS POINT, WI (WSAU) — It’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance for the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point men’s hockey team this weekend.
After a 3-0 win over Saint Norbert in the second round of the NCAA Division III tournament last weekend, the unbeaten Pointers will host the 2019 Frozen Four and could win the title on home ice.
Director of Athletics Brad Duckworth says it’s a surreal opportunity for his staff and the team, because not every student-athlete will get a chance to play for a national championship in front of their home fans.
“It’s a special situation for our men,” said Duckworth. “To be able to do it in front of their friends and family at home, to earn there way here, it’s a pretty neat time.”
This year marks the first time since the 1990’s that the Division III Championship will be contested on a campus site. Last year, UWSP participated in the Frozen Four in Lake Placid, NY. Duckworth said the criteria for hosting included a formal bid process and was also contingent on the Pointers earning a top seed in the tournament and a spot in the national semifinals.
Plans for the possibility of hosting the event actually began in December, when Duckworth said the team went into the holiday break unbeaten.
“We had to reach out to our hotel partners and say ‘hey we need 60 rooms for Wednesday through Saturday night, and oh, by the way, we won’t be able to tell you until Sunday morning the week of if we really need them,’” said Duckworth. Similar calls had to be made to catering companies for a $10,000 Frozen Four banquet and the staff of the city-run K.B. Willett Ice Arena.
“As soon as I said to people ‘hey, this is a possibility’ there wasn’t an oh my gosh we can’t do this if we don’t know. It was ‘we’re excited, let’s hope we do this.’” Duckworth calls the tournament a reward for those partners who took a gamble on the team’s success and held inventory and resources on the chance that they would get to host.
A big portion of that reward will come in the form of tourism tax dollars for the community. The estimated economic impact of hosting the DIII Frozen Four is about $400,000 over four days.
Duckworth is encouraging fans interested in attending the games to purchase their tickets as early as possible. All three games will be sold as individual sessions beginning Tuesday morning at 8, and with a recent run of lighting-fast sellouts and Willit’s small capacity for UWSP hockey games he says you shouldn’t wait. “We’re confined to 1,500 people, so when we sell 1,500 tickets, we’re out of the ticket business.”
Tickets can be purchased at tickets.uwsp.edu. UWSP’s second-round tournament game against St. Norbert College sold out in roughly four minutes.
Friday’s schedule will begin at 3 PM with the State University of New York- Geneseo taking on Norwich. UWSP will battle Hobart in the nightcap at 7 PM. The winners meet Saturday at 7 PM for the title.
He went on to say the next week will be a point of pride for everyone on campus. Not only does the team have several local ties including Coach Tyler Krueger, a Stevens Point native who played for the Pointers from 2010-2014, but many of his assistants have direct ties to the program as well. Additionally, Duckworth says the hockey program has consistently had the highest GPA of any men’s team on campus for the last few seasons. “I don’t think I could be prouder of this group, and it means everything to these guys.”
Bringing all the preparation together in less than a week to host the event will also be a test of his staff and the community, but Duckworth says he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“This is a fun time. If you work in athletics and you’re not excited about this than you’re in the wrong business.”
