The Syracuse University men’s club ice hockey team has been suspended and is under investigation after fighting fans following a game against New York University on Saturday night.

Following the incident, which took place at the Chelsea Piers Sports & Entertainment Complex in Manhattan, the university has suspended all team activities.

“These actions are deeply troubling,” a university spokesperson said in an email. “Violence of any kind is contrary to Syracuse University values and will not be tolerated. We have suspended all Men’s Hockey Club team activities, including all games and practices. We will be conducting a thorough investigation to determine further disciplinary action.”

Junior SU forward Keith Lambert said the incident was instigated by the NYU fans, specifically a player who was a healthy scratch on Saturday. Lambert described the fans as “belligerent” and said that they were drinking large quantities of alcohol. This is not an uncommon occurrence for visiting teams at NYU, Lambert said. Fans threw bottles and poured beer on SU players, Lambert said.

“They had full bottles of Jack Daniels,” Lambert said, “full bottles of Captain Morgan. They’re bringing 30 racks in there. They’re blacked out.”

After Saturday night’s game ended controversially in overtime, the NYU fans went to meet SU as it came off the ice, Lambert said. He was in the middle of the group, and by the time he reached the brawl, it was already too late to stop it. The SU team was, according to Lambert, acting in self-defense. The coaches and referees were not immediately present, Lambert said, because they were still on the ice discussing the goal.

A video posted on Twitter by Barstool Sports on Monday has been reported as a clip from the incident, but neither SU nor NYU has confirmed that the video is of the incident. Lambert, however, confirmed that the video is authentic.

Lambert did not identify any of the specific players in the video.

Since club ice hockey is not a varsity sport, it falls under the rule of recreation services and not SU Athletics. The department of recreation services did not respond immediately for comment. Head coach Nick Pierandri declined to comment, as he and his team have yet to meet with university officials.

Published on January 30, 2018 at 5:37 pm

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