It is the dream of many athletes to play in a stadium built for tens of thousands of fans — to walk out onto a professionally maintained court, field or rink, listen to everyone cheer for the team and feel the ground shake with energy, and look up at the jumbotron to see the screen flashing their name.
For the members of the women’s club ice hockey team, this dream became a reality. Jan. 18, the Cavaliers took to the ice in the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. — home to the Washington Capitals professional hockey team — for an exhibition game against Maryland.
The game took place shortly after a monumental matchup of its own — an installment of the Professional Women’s Hockey League Takeover Tour featuring the Montreál Victoire and the New York Sirens, played on the same day.
“It was such an incredible experience, and, quite honestly, an unexplainable feeling,” second-year College student Avery Buchanan said in an interview Jan. 19. “Seeing [the arena] completely filled up was so inspiring … [for] women’s sports in general … it was so cool to skate out onto the same ice that, you know, [Alexander Ovechkin] skates out onto.”
The PWHL Takeover Tour is a series of professional women’s ice hockey games that take place in various neutral-site stadium locations, primarily with the purpose of expanding the PWHL’s reach and fanbase, while also giving various communities the opportunity to watch these elite players take the ice close to home.
To make the night all about women’s sports, at both the professional and collegiate level, a Capital One Arena employee contacted the Virginia club team with this opportunity and asked if they would be interested in participating in the historic night by playing in a scrimmage against Maryland. The team jumped at the opportunity to share the venue with the PWHL, which had never hosted a game at Capital One — the game served as a major spotlight on both Virginia’s ice hockey program and the broader women’s ice hockey scene.
The Cavaliers played in the Capital One Arena before — they participated in an exhibition game there a couple of years ago during halftime, but they were unable to return last season due to difficulty with scheduling. No one knew just how monumental this year’s game was until the team walked in and found a record-breaking attendance of 17,228 fans waiting for the PWHL game — the most fans ever to show up for a women’s hockey game in the United States.
After watching an electric matchup between Montreál and New York — with the Sirens breaking the Victoire’s three-match win streak — Virginia finally got to suit up and take the ice themselves. Many of the PWHL spectators stuck around for the collegiate match, breaking the Cavaliers’ own attendance record for a women’s club hockey game.
Although the scrimmage itself was a tough loss for Virginia — mainly because Maryland brought experienced alumni out to play in the game — the Cavaliers were appreciative of the opportunity to play in a professional rink and have such a large crowd there cheering them on. Third-year goalie Tess Cleary and first-year forward Suzahn Vollstad also managed to have standout performances against the more experienced players — with Cleary blocking shots and Vollstad leading on the offensive front.
Buchanan, one of the assistant captains and the vice president of the team, believes part of fans’ energy can be attributed to the fact that many fans of both teams live around the D.C area. She said she could hear different groups chanting “Wahoowa” in the stands, a moment that felt surreal compared to the usual handful of spectators that would show up to their home games at Liberty University in Lynchburg.
The opportunity to play in the Capital One Arena also allowed Virginia to build on the momentum it created during its fall season. The team finished the Fall Tournament 8-1, an impressive run that only ended when the Cavaliers lost the championship game.
Beyond the exhibition, goals for the program’s 25th year at Virginia are only becoming more ambitious. To honor past students that helped push for the club’s growth, the team is hosting its 25th Anniversary Alumni Reception and Game Saturday, March 21 and Sunday, March 22, respectively. During the game, the Cavaliers’ old teammates will once again lace up their skates and face off the current team in the LaHaye Ice Center at Liberty.
First and foremost, though, Buchanan and the rest of the team plan to take home the championship victory this spring, building off their near-perfect fall season. The team only meets a few times every year to practice, relying heavily on its weekly matchups to improve. The Cavaliers have been competing with teams that practice two to four times a week on their own rinks.
Virginia also aspires to raise more funds that give more women the opportunity to play. The Cavaliers hope that Charlottesville or the University will eventually build an ice rink closer to Grounds, making training easier and pulling in more fans for both the men’s and women’s ice hockey teams.
“I feel incredibly lucky that I’m in a position where … we’re growing so much as a team, and that we can … hopefully continue to grow into something down the line [so] we can come back to [Virginia] and say, ‘wow … we were there when it started,’” Buchanan said.
According to Buchanan, the best way for fans to support the team is to attend any games, donate and spread the word. Those interested in learning more can take a look at the Cavaliers’ website and sign up for their monthly newsletter.
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