Sports

UNLV Club Hockey Team Stuns Reigning NCAA D1 Champ Denver In Historically Large Upset

#College Hockey
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What’s the most historic sports upset you can think of? Is it the Miracle on Ice at the 1980 Winter Olympics? Maybe Y.E. Yang staring down prime Tiger Woods in the 2009 PGA Championship and coming out on top? Perhaps Buster Douglas, a 42-to-1 underdog, becoming the world heavyweight boxing champion by defeating the seemingly unbeatable Mike Tyson?

Well, all of those can move out of the way now. Because on Saturday night, we saw an upset of epic proportions that might well be larger than all of the above when the UNLV club hockey team defeated reigning NCAA Division I champion Denver in a shootout, 7-6. And lest you think the Pioneers have fallen off a cliff, they’re currently ranked No. 4 in the latest USCHO poll.

Now, we would be remiss if we did not add a little bit of context. Both Denver head coach David Carle and superstar defenseman Zeev Buium are away from the team while representing Team USA at World Juniors. But even so, this qualifies as an upset of almost unbelievable proportions that spans well beyond college hockey.

According to its team website, “The UNLV Men’s Hockey team are a self-funded non-profit hockey organization that operates through player dues and continual fundraising programs. Ticket sales and joint promotional ventures with local organizations also significantly contribute to the operating costs of the organization.”

Player dues for the season will be $3,000 per player. Needless to say, these are not scholarship athletes. Meanwhile, Denver is one of the nation’s premier D1 program.

As for the game itself, UNLV raced out to a 5-1 lead through two periods. Denver came racing back to tie the game at 6-6 and send it to overtime. But it was Rebels who somehow, improbably, pulled out the victory in penalty shots.

Hey UNLV athletic director Erick Harper, it might just be time to get these kids some funding!