A Look Back at the SEC Championship

By Bailey Muselwhite
HottyToddy Intern

Founded in 2009, the Ole Miss hockey team has had a long road and with hard work. But now has come a hard-won victory.

Winning the SEC championship pushed what was once an afterthought team to the forefront of Ole Miss athletics.

Gage Young, of Charlotte, NC, is the lens of how this story is told. Being a freshman on a sports team is an experience in itself, but being a freshman on an SEC championship is an even bigger one. This experience starts out as one might think. With excitement.

Gage and the entire team of around 30 loaded buses and headed north to Bellevue, Tenn. The Rebels’ first opponent, Florida Atlantic, was blown out of the water by a score of 5-2. Gage said that the game was a gritty, physical one.

After the first game, the team’s confidence grew and so did their excitement. The Ole Miss support section was by far the best. After every goal, players and students alike would shout Hoddy Toddy, and even Ole Miss hockey alumni attended to support the team. The support visibly fueled the player’s confidence and swelled them with pride.

“It was crazy to see so much support for the team. We are kinda like a powerhouse,” Gage said.

The round two opponent was Auburn. Right off the bat, Gage said the Rebels scored, but soon after the goal the game became stagnate. It became a slugging match with both teams not being able to score.

Eventually, the game went into overtime. During OT, the Rebels’ team captain went in for the kill. With some passes back and forth, he scored the winning point. On to the championship game.

The last team was the formidable Arkansas Razorbacks. Gage said this game was physical. But from the start, he felt a weird calm come over the team. This was despite the Razorbacks drawing first blood with a 1-0 lead.

Gage stressed how weird the emotions were during this last game. When halftime came, the Rebels gathered in the locker room for the game plan. The team’s leaders made sure everyone knew their part in the plan. And with a motivational speech, the team was ready for blood. This was the Rebels time to shine.

Gage said the plan went off without an incident, the Rebels won, and victory was sweet. After the game the team went wild. So how much support is the team is getting after their victory. Gage said a lot. He told me how thankful he was to see people donating to the team. Their GoFundMe had reached around 15,000 dollars (in February). Prominent people such as Ole Miss faculty, football players, and other students have reached out asking for jerseys from the team. The team had a meeting with Ole Miss Chancellor Dr. Glenn Boyce to discuss improvements, along with being honored at the Lyceum for their success.

“We are going to new heights,” Gage said.

The Ole Miss hockey team now has proven to the students, the university, and the world that they matter. As SEC champions, they now have the championship title to back that claim up.