When the NYU hockey team left nationals last season after pool play with a 2-1 record, they were disappointed to not have advanced to the elimination round. The junior heavy team, refusing to give up, looked forward to their last chance to make an impact as seniors. Now, with 12 Violet seniors looking to go out with a bang, the team returns to nationals in Utah, this time riding the wave of a Super East Collegiate Hockey League championship, knowing they’ll have to be even better than they’ve been all season.

The road to Utah has not been an easy one. The Violets have had to adjust emotionally and physically to their starting goalkeeper Sam Daley being sidelined by a brain tumor. On top of that, the competition they have faced all year has been brutal, as rivals Montclair State University and William Paterson University are also headed to nationals. Head Coach Chris Cosentino said he could not be more proud of his team as they approach the end of their season.

“We have a special group,” Cosentino said. “We have been through a lot together. We have a group who over four years have grown into men and are leaders both on and off the ice.”

The Violets hard work on the ice is surpassed by their work off it. The team holds a 3.5 GPA and works tirelessly in the classroom and in the community at events like Relay For Life and the NYU FACES gala. Senior captain Dan Fortunato, whose father also coaches the team, has a 4.0 GPA and works a full-time job.

“There has been a lot of long days and sleepless nights over the past four years balancing my job, academics, hockey and commute from New Jersey everyday,” Fortunato said. “It is not easy being a student athlete and I am proud of how all the guys have been able to discipline themselves and devote their free time away from hockey to focusing on their school work. Although we only have three people on this team that wear a letter on their jersey, every single senior on this team is a leader on and off the ice and has helped this team get to where we are today.”

When the Violets make their flight out to Utah on March 18, they will meet the Central region’s powerhouse Grand Valley State University, Northern Arizona University from the West and Liberty University from the Southeast region.

Jack Nebe, the freshman goalie who has stepped up on every occasion this season, is excited to have his first shot at a national tournament.

“Nationals is a big stage where every little play is magnified,” Nebe said. “But at the end of the day, it’s just a hockey game and all you can do is focus on your performance and battle as hard as you can to give the team everything you’ve got.”

Win or lose, nationals will be an emotional weekend for the Violets. Daley’s return is unlikely, as the Violets will likely elect to play it safe at the advice of his doctors and the NYU training staff. The 12 seniors who served as Cosentino’s first recruiting class will leave it all on the ice in their final competitions before graduation.

“We have all grown up together and the relationships we have built will last a lifetime,” Cosentino said. “We really are a family. This program is what it is because of this senior class, and of course I want to see them go out as champions. But in my eyes, because of what they have done over the past four years, they already are.”

A version of this article appeared in the Tuesday, March 10 print edition. Email Bobby Wagner at [email protected].