Quinnipiac University
| Quinnipiac University | |
| Location | Hamden, CT |
|---|---|
| Distance from RPI | 150 mi. |
| Venue name | Northford Ice Pavilion (thru 1/07)
TD Banknorth Sports Center (after 1/07) |
Since it joined the ECACHL, Quinnipiac's Men's and Women's teams have played at the Northford Ice Pavilion in Northford, CT. This venue has become notorious for its poor ice conditions, limited seating, and extremely low ceiling. It is a community ice rink being used for Division I hockey.
Quinnipiac will remedy this problem early in 2007 when they open the TD Banknorth Sports Center, a combination basketball/hockey venue with better seating, sight lines, and team accommodations. The $52 million venue will seat 3,286 for hockey, making it the 5th largest rink out of the 12 in the ECAC.
The Quinnipiac Pep Band was formed in approximately 2001 and is funded by the QU Athletic Department. Lack of funding and support by the school has kept the band from growing very large, and the band often faces severe heckling from rowdy students at games. When the RPI Pep Band last traveled to Quinnipiac, their band's leadership expressed interest in coming to a game at RPI, as the two bands got along well and had a good time.
Recent Trips
February 18, 2006 Ingalls Rink
The second half of an overnight road trip to Princeton and Quinnipiac, this game was played at Yale's home rink due to the cramped conditions at the Northford Ice Pavilion.
November 10, 2006 Northford Ice Pavilion
The band traveled by bus on this Friday for a day trip to a women's game against Quinnipiac with a band about 20 strong. There seemed to be a pretty even split between RPI and Quinnipiac fans at the game. Since the Northford Ice Pavillion only seats about 700 (on only one side of the rink, no less) the band sounded really loud. We knew this because when we played the anthems with Quinnipiac's band, some of our players were noticeably flinching for each cymbal crash. A lot of the band was singing along with the songs on the PA system the whole night, especially "Sweet Caroline" and "Build Me Up Buttercup" (twice - the Quinnipiac band played it once as well). Dan was harassed by the Qunnipiac mascot, a bobcat, early in the game but less so as it became evident that we were going to win. We went on to win the game 5-1 for the women's first ever ECAC victory, and when we went to cheer on the team they were very appreciative that we had made the trip.