Students who attended last Friday night’s televised men’s ice hockey game against Harvard were asked to leave the student section, not because of poor sportsmanship, but because the seats had been sold.
The game, televised on NESN, had the highest attendance of this season, with 3,796 spectators.
“We had a TV game and high demand from general public,” said Eric Grgurich, executive director of the TD Bank Sports Center.
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- Quinnipiac’s student section is normally sections 108, 109, 110 and 111, but for Friday night’s men’s ice hockey game vs. Harvard on NESN, it was reduced to sections 109, 110 and 111.
Sections 108, 109, 110 and 111, usually reserved for Quinnipiac students, were reduced to 109, 110, and 111 because of a lack of student interest, Grgurich said.
“We like to have our students there because those are our friends, the ones that we spend a lot of time with, and their support means a lot to us,” senior team captain Scott Zurevinski said, “but at the same time the community has been really good to us, and we enjoy seeing them out there as well.”
Emails and social media, such as Twitter and Facebook, were used to express the importance of reserving student tickets, Grgurich said. Still, many students aren’t aware of the new policy.
“I was not aware that you have to reserve a ticket, usually because I delete the emails from athletics because they send so many,” junior Kira Riley said. “I feel like students shouldn’t have to reserve tickets because there is a whole section reserved for us already.”
Students received emails requesting that they reserve seats for the Harvard game. The low rate of reserved tickets allowed the box office to take those tickets, previously reserved for students, and sell them to the general public.
A link and tutorial video are available to students on WebAdvisor that lead to a login page requesting a Quinnipiac email and password. Once logged in, students are presented with a list of upcoming games and are prompted to reserve tickets for whichever game they plan to attend.
“It gives us a great idea of how many students are planning to come to the game,” said David Caprio, group ticket sales and promotions manager. “Bigger games, when we get a lot of requests from different groups and we have to see how many seats are available certainly plays a factor but we always make sure leave a generous amount for the students.”
Student fans were still able to swipe their Q-cards to enter High Point Solutions Arena on Friday but many were given standing room only.
The student area will continue to include all four sections; however, based on student feedback, some of those seats may be shared with the general public, Grgurich said. When projected student attendance is down, the box office’s goal is to fill in as much as possible.
Games that usually generate a large interest from the general public and students, such as the Yale rivalry game and televised games, will lead to a need for ticket reservations.
“Knowing it’s going on TV and a sold-out crowd gets us fired up,” assistant captain Mike Glaicar said. “It does make a difference to us.”
Large games aside, it is still important that students begin using the new reservation program and continue attending games.
“Their support means a lot to us,” Zurevinski said. “Our team is really good this year, and the more they come out, the more they’ll see that.”
