By JASON KETZ
Sports Editor

(WARRENSBURG, Mo., digitalBURG) — After completing their third season of play in the Great Plains Collegiate Inline Hockey League, the UCM roller hockey team made it to the semi-finals of the playoffs for the first time in program history.

PHOTO SUBMITTED BY ANN RATLIFF
In position to take the face-off, the UCM Roller Hockey team
(in black uniforms) matched up against the Kansas State Wildcats on
March 6 in the semi-finals of the Great Plaiins Collegiate Inline Hockey League playoffs.

Tom Ratliff, the team’s president and founder, said he never thought the team would make it this far.

“When this past season started, we didn’t know what to expect,” Ratliff said. “We were able to get a couple more players who had previously played hockey to make our team more competitive.”

When Ratliff stepped onto campus as a freshman in fall 2013, UCM didn’t have a roller hockey team. He decided to contact the UCM Office of Student Activities to find out how he could start up a team of his own.

“They told me to check with club sports, and I set up a meeting with Kevin Sneed who, little did I know, would become crucial in the formation of the team,” Ratliff said.

During his meeting with Sneed, Ratliff was told that all of the guidelines necessary to become a registered student organization on campus included finding a faculty adviser and at least eight members as well as establishing a written constitution. But not only did Sneed tell Ratliff about the steps needed to become an organization, he also introduced him to the current vice president of UCM Roller Hockey, Brian McQueen.

“My freshman year I was wanting to start up a roller hockey team at UCM,” McQueen said. “Unfortunately, I just didn’t have the help to get it going.”

Within a week of being introduced, Ratliff and McQueen had their first official meeting and got some interest from students on campus and began practicing in the Lovinger gymnasium. The team traveled to St. Louis to play in their first pre-season game three months later.

“We show up to our first game with these plain black practice jerseys with ironed-on numbers and letters,” Ratliff said. “We played St. Louis University, which was one of the best teams at the time and started off with a 2-0 lead.”

PHOTO SUBMITTED BY ANN RATLIFF
The 2015-16 UCM Roller Hockey Team (From left) Bottom Row: Brian McQueen,
Cody Archer. Middle Row: Salma Abouelhana, Miranda Roberts. Top Row: Steven
Martka, Tom Ratliff, Jake Rohrer, Gabe Kierath, Ryan Esker, Mike Butterfield, Jeremy Geear.

The Mules went on to lose that game 13-2, but it didn’t diminish the fulfillment that Ratliff and his teammates had accomplished.

“That was all about three or four months time where there isn’t even talk of a roller hockey team to actually playing games in the GPCIHL,” Ratliff said.

The team lost the remaining games of its first season. But entering the last game of their second season, the Mules played Illinois State’s junior varsity team and Ratliff knew that this was gut check time for his team.

“Going into that last game of that season, we were all beat up and tired of losing,” Ratliff said. “We knew that if we didn’t start winning games that the team was going to fall apart.”

The luck turned for the Mules with a hat trick and two assists from Ratliff. UCM held a 7-5 lead with little time left in the third period. After the Redbirds scored with a minute to play, the Mules held on long enough to get their first win.

“It was honestly a great feeling,” McQueen said. “Just to finish the season on a high note, it helped us look forward to the next season.”

In its third season, the team went 5-9 on the year – highlighted by an upset win on the road against the eventual league champions Kansas State. Even though the Mules lost in the semi-finals to the very team it upset during the regular season, the team is optimistic for next season and beyond.