Sports

Cornell Pep Band Incites Raucous Hate-Filled Boos By Trolling Michigan State With Rival Fight Song

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Cornell Band Troll Michigan State Hockey The Victors
© Star-Gazette / file photo

Cornell pulled a massive college hockey upset with a final-minute win over second-ranked Michigan State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night. You could say that the players in red were the Victors, which is a pun that will make more sense as we continue.

The Big Red’s pep band immediately declared war by playing the fight song of the Spartan’s biggest rival just seconds into the game. It sent the arena into a hate-filled chorus of boos.

Cornell, the No. 16-ranked team in college hockey, paired with No. 2-seed Michigan State in the first round of the DI Men’s Ice Hockey Championship. Although anything can happen on any given night, it was expected that the Spartans would have no issue handling the Big Red.

That was not the case! The underdog prevailed on an epic game-winner with less than 10 seconds left in the third period. Senior goaltender Ian Shane stopped 34 of 37 shots to secure his 66th career win. That is the second-most victories by a netminder in program history. A tripping penalty with 1:40 left in regulation led to Cornell’s first power play of the night. Sullivan Mack finished a backdoor, cross-ice pass from Charlie Major to give his team its first lead of the night with 8.5 seconds left. It held 4-3.

As good of a game as it was, I was most impressed by the Big Red pep band. It chose violence. Its team backed up the proverbial trash talk. Or, perhaps, trash brass? I digress.

Michigan State’s biggest rival is Michigan. The Wolverines are known for their fight song ‘The Victors.’

Cornell’s band played ‘The Victors’ just seconds into its game against Michigan State. Spartans fans in attendance ruthlessly booed the obvious and savage troll.

I love absolutely everything about this. The Big Red made abundantly clear that it was not backing down from a challenge from the jump. It riled up the opposing fanbase as soon as possible. It did not stop.

And to make the entire thing even better, Cornell won. They are indeed the Victors!