Tyler Burrows, senior, and the rest of the Marquette hockey team skate onto the ice as screams and cheers fill the rink. In spite of all the sound and distraction, Burrows calmly puts in his earbuds and stays focused on the game ahead.

Burrows said one of the most important skills for him when going into a game is being able to stay focused regardless of any distractions.

The game later today against Lafayette poses a possible distraction for the team as five of the team’s starters will be traveling with the UA Central States team for playoffs in Chicago. This trip will cause them to miss the first game against Lafayette today, but not the second game Monday.

Burrows, who is not on the club team, said he is confident going into the game because the team had a great performance against Edwardsville last Monday, winning 6-0, which barely qualified the team to move on in the bracket.
“We’re still confident, we just know we have got to work harder,” Burrows said. “I think if everyone remembers what last game was like and really grinds, we’ll be okay.”

Burrows said because Lafayette has three players out, the game is evened out.  

In preparation for the game, head coach Gary Tockman said the team has been focused on refining the skills of those playing in the game today. Tockman added that at this point in the season, refining is about all he can do.

“In the middle of February, there’s not a whole lot of preparation you can do,” Tockman said. “If a kid doesn’t know what he’s doing six months into the season, he’s not going to learn it in one practice.”

As the head coach of the club team, Tockman also will be traveling to Chicago and missing the game today; however, he said with the presence of the other assistant coaches, he won’t be needed at the game.

While at first, it may seem like the absence of the club team would be a negative, Tockman said that it can help those who normally stay on the bench to push themselves.

“It forces other kids who maybe lean on the Central States kids to play harder, and it forces them to work harder, and it forces them to realize they are part of the team,” Tockman said.

Joshua Salmon, senior, plays on the club team and said one of his main motivators to win against Lafayette is because of how Lafayette allegedly lost their game against Rockwood Summit on purpose last week.

While Tockman said no one on the team knows for certain what their reason for doing this was, Salmon said he thinks Lafayette did it to try and knock Marquette out of the bracket. 

If Lafayette had won the game, Marquette would only have had to win against Edwardsville to move on, but because they lost, the team was forced to win by at least 6 points against Edwardsville to qualify.

“You kind of always talk about intentionally losing a game, but you never actually throw a game to knock a team out,” Salmon said.

 Regardless of how the team performs later today, Salmon said Monday will be the deciding game.

“How I see it, us being gone [today] doesn’t really matter too much,” Salmon said. “I feel like everyone’s going to be fired up and ready to play.”