Opinion
Men’s basketball and hockey struggle while women feel right at home
February 5, 2010
Winter sports for the Falcons are heading into the home stretch of the regular season. The teams are starting to smell the postseason tournaments. It’s the fun time in the year for the fans as well for the athletes. Each game gets a little bit bigger as the season moves along and each win is critical for home-field advantage for the tournament. For two teams though, men’s basketball and men’s hockey, haven’t had that home sweet home feeling all at this season.
The men’s basketball team is having a down year, but a part of that reason is struggling at home. The team has posted a 2-6 record at home overall and a 6-5 record on the road overall, along with a 0-1 record at a neutral site. The Falcons are currently sitting in last place in the WIAC Conference and part of that has to do with the 0-5 record in conference play at home.
The men’s hockey team is having an up and down year. The Falcons are a team that looks like an NCHA title contender one night and a bottom-feeder team the next night. Part of the reason has to do with the home struggles and the road dominance. The team is posting a 5-7-0 record at home overall and a 7-0-2 record on the road. The team currently holds the fourth seed in the NCHA tournament with four games left to play. The fourth seed would give them home-ice advantage in the first round in the NCHA Peter’s Cup Tournament. If the team doesn’t figure out away to embrace that home-ice advantage, this team could very well be looking at a first round exit in the tournament.
While the men’s basketball and hockey teams have struggled at home, the Falcon women’s teams have enjoyed the home-cooking. The women’s basketball team is posting an 8-2 record at home overall and 5-2 record on the road overall, along with a 2-0 record at a neutral site. This women’s team has struggled as of late, and will go on the road for four of their last five games. If this team wants any momentum heading into the WIAC tournament, the team with have to gain it through playing on the road. The team is currently third in the WIAC standings.
The women’s hockey team also has had a lot of success at home this season. The team has posted a 7-1-3 record at home overall and a 4-2-1 record on the road. The team is currently third in the NCHA standings with seven games remaining in the regular season. The team has been picking up momentum these last few weeks winning four out of their last five games; the game they didn’t win was a tie. The team will try to extend their fivegame unbeaten streak at home this weekend while hosting Concordia, WI.
Derek Johnson is a student at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.