Sacramento State’s Hockey club may technically be a “recreational team,” but it is far from being a non-competitive one. The club is currently 3-1, on top of the Pacific Collegiate Hockey Association.

They may only be in the beginning of their 2010-11 season, but the team is well onitsway to achieving their goal of a Pacific Collegiate Hockey Association championship.

The club started in the 2006-07 school year and has been competing in the PCHA since that time. In itsfour-year history the club has qualified for league playoffs twice and made regional playoffs once.

Over one-sixth of the way through its 2010-11 season the team is undefeated in the PCHA (3-0), and 3-1 overall.

“Obviously now that we’re winning, it feels really good,” said Gokalp Gurer, goalie. “The best part about it is just having a team of brothers. Thecamaraderie is the best part.”

After such a strong start for head coach Jeff Harper and his Hornets this season, the team has its eye set on adding to its young history.

“It’s like the perfect storm. You’ve got good players on a team, you’ve got good chemistry, a lot more pleasant than last season and so we’re having fun,” Harper said.

This team is unlike most college teams. The players were not scouted or recruited, they made their own effort to join.

“I just walked by the booth in the Quad and I just thought we had a nice hockey team,” said assistant captain Matt Price.

This team came together through either total chaos or complete harmony.

“One of my buddies was a goalie on the team and I was going to community college over at Sac City and he basically got me to apply at Sac State and to transfer in as a sophomore,” said team captain Brian Cowell.

The team is atop the PCHA, but still welcomes all newcomers.

“We’re a club team so that means we can’t make any cuts – not like NCAA,” Gurer said. “So by being club that means we aren’t sponsored by the school but we’re just as competitive.”

Aside from the desire to be a member of the team, the only requirements are to be a student of Sac State and each player must pay a player fee of $1,500.

“If there’s a new player and he tries out they tell him how to get involved, there’s no blockade on it,” Harper said.

Being a member of the team is a commitment. The team will travel as far as San Diego this season and has a schedule of 21 regular season games.

“We practice twice a week for about an hour and a half each day,” Cowell said. “Also we have dry-lands, that are around an hour and a half. And about two games usually in a week. It’s close to 12 hours a week.”

The stands at Skatetown in Roseville, the home for the Hornets, are thin, yet open seats remain at most home games.The club is still building its fan base and is still fighting to make a name for itself.

“Our club has grown exponentially since we started in 2006,” said Team Manager Justin Ellison. “We have gained so many fans and players in such a short amount of time. In five years, the club has been to league playoffs twice and regional playoffs once.”

The club has been digging itself out of a hole that was dug for it in the late “90s by the previous Sac State Ice Hockey Club.

“There was actually a club before us, back in the “90s and early 2000s. That club got disbanded because of eligibility fraud,” Ellison said. “It really gave ice hockey at Sac State a bad name and we have been trying to repair it ever since.”

Wining is a great way to erase the negatives of the past and to develop a strong fan base.

“When you see a crowd out there you’re like “Ohhhhh! People really care about us,'” Gurer said. “It actually makes a huge difference win or lose. When they’re still coming out that means a lot, the fact that they’re supporting you.”

When the fans go to watch the Hornets, the team always gives them its best effort, said Price. The team’s next home game is against UC Davis on Saturday, Oct. 30.

“That’s what we play for,” Price said. “Especially at the Davis games, it’s sold out and it’s loud and I think we play a little bit harder that way.”

AJ Taylor can be reached at [email protected]