LMU Ice Hockey celebrated their seniors on Jan. 28 in a matchup against the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Bruins. Families and friends of the six seniors on the team — Tim Lew, Chris Manzer, Cole Montoya, Spencer Knapp, Gabi Rodriguez and Alex Swenson-Lennox — gathered happily, cheering on the men as they stepped foot onto the ice for one of their last games. As the lineup announcements and the singing of the national anthem ended, a huge, enthusiastic crowd of LMU students came rushing into the arena, running over to the wall behind where UCLA’s goalie was situated.
It became more than clear soon enough that these students were not just avid watchers of LMU hockey — they were members of LMU’s Sorority and Fraternity Life (SFL).
LMU’s SFL consists of 10 sorority chapters and 10 fraternity chapters. A common denominator runs throughout a lot of the chapters in SFL — they have a lot of love for the Men’s Hockey team.
“I think all of [Alpha Chi Omega] loves hockey. I go to all the games — I go with my sister; she’s also an [Alpha Chi Omega]. I love showing out for this game — it’s a wonderful sport — and it’s great to see the LMU community rally around this awesome club team,” said Ashley Waiss, a senior management major and a member of Alpha Chi Omega.
Along with the celebration of their graduating class, the club team held a contest amongst the sororities and fraternities — whichever Greek chapter had the most members at the match would receive a personalized jersey from the team. Many of the sororities and fraternities were represented at the game, but one fraternity truly showed up in masses to support LMU Hockey: Sigma Chi.
“Ever since [former LMU Hockey captain] Austin Billings … joined the Sigma Chi fraternity, we became really close with the hockey team … we recruited three members of the hockey team in our fraternity,” said Jake Rose, a junior theater arts major and a member of Sigma Chi. “I think it’s a very rare connection with Sigma Chi and the hockey team … it’s a special connection, and to be honest, because of Sigma Chi, I would say it’s the best sport at LMU.”
