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ESF Club Hockey Team
ESF Club Hockey Team Plays on Olympic Ice
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — April 20, 2026 — It wasn’t a miracle on ice, but for ESF’s ice hockey club team it was a memory they’ll never forget when they traveled to Lake Placid to play an exhibition against ESF’s Ranger School hockey team on the 1980 Olympic Ice in Herb Brooks Arena.
The game took place Feb. 22, the same date the U.S. Olympic team beat the Soviet Union in the famous Miracle on Ice.
ESF’s hockey club has its roots in the North Country. Club founder and team captain Sean Van Riper attended the Ranger School in the 2024-25 academic year where he was captain of their hockey team. When he returned to the Syracuse campus as a junior, he created the ESF hockey club.
The game was a return to the ice Van Riper played on while at the Ranger School.
For the original Ranger School game, Van Riper worked with Ranger School Director Mariann Johnston, professors Gregory Vaverchak and Jeremy Thompson, and Director of Housing Tim O’Mara. After the success of that game, plans were made to create an annual event featuring a game played at the Lake Placid Olympic rink between the Ranger School team — which has existed since 1999 — and the newly founded ESF club team. The co-ed hockey team has 30 members, 16 of which attended the Lake Placid game.
“It was an incredible experience for our team to share our love of hockey in a way that was so interwoven with the hockey history of the United States,” said Van Riper. “Many of us started our day that Sunday watching the U.S. men’s team win the gold, so we were excited to play our own game on historic ice in Lake Placid.”
Van Riper said a lifelong love of hockey and the sense of connection built through team sports inspired him to start the ESF Ice Hockey Club. After scaling back his athletic involvement in college, he missed the camaraderie that came with being part of a team. Drawing on his experience captaining the Ranger School hockey team, he launched the club in Syracuse with the goal of creating a welcoming community where students could connect on and off the ice.
Van Riper credits his fellow officers with the club’s success: Katrina Dale, vice president; Nicholas Stein, treasurer; and Atticus Beane, Mighty Oak Student Assembly representative.
As the semester winds down, and with the ESF Ice Hockey Club team’s first year is in the books, Van Riper is pleased with what the team has accomplished.
“Weekly practices are an amazing experience and sharing the ice with each other is a pleasure always,” he said. “Our connections go beyond the ice as well. I can’t wait to see the club develop further, growing in size and community. Students interested in joining can find the club on ESF Engage or contact Van Riper at [email protected]. No prior hockey experience is required.
About SUNY ESF
The SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) is dedicated to the study of the environment, developing renewable technologies, and building a sustainable and resilient future through design, policy, and management of the environment and natural resources. Members of the College community share a passion for protecting the health of the planet and a deep commitment to the rigorous application of science to improve the way humans interact with the world. The College offers academic programs ranging from the associate of applied science to the Doctor of Philosophy. ESF students live, study and do research on the main campus in Syracuse, N.Y., and on 25,000 acres of field stations in a variety of ecosystems across the state.
About the Ranger School
The Ranger School in Wanakena, New York, offers students a unique educational experience in a spectacular natural setting. The Ranger School confers the associate in applied science degree (A.A.S.) in three areas of study: forest technology, land surveying technology, and environmental and natural resources conservation. The Ranger School's one-plus-one plan allows students to complete their first year at the college of their choice, then spend their second year at The Ranger School.