The Ponds of Brookfield holds 18,000 fewer spectators than the Bradley Center, barely holding a thousand people, which is hardly enough space to contain the busloads of enthusiasm being transported from Marquette 18 times this year. Despite its small size and less-than-professional look, it plays home to a sports program that can match almost any other at Marquette when it comes to success.

Club hockey is becoming one of the most successful and popular sports at Marquette, and students have been making the trek out to Brookfield to pack every home game this year to cheer on one of Marquette’s best kept athletic secrets. And students are not just coming out for the beer and $5 tickets, but also to witness the product on the ice.

“There are students who have said they have more fun here than [at] the men’s basketball games,” senior team captain Will Jurgensen said.

Why do they have more fun? Well, as Jurgensen said, “winning helps.”

And winning is suddenly becoming commonplace for Marquette hockey, a program coming off a 2011-2012 campaign that saw a 20-3-1 regular season, a first place finish in the Mid Atlantic Collegiate Hockey Association’s North Division and a 3-1 loss to Robert Morris in the MACHA championship game. The team jumped in to a quick start again this year with a 16-4-1 record following Thanksgiving break.

The current level of play on the ice and excitement in the stands was not always the case for Marquette hockey. Just four years ago, the now decorated senior class was playing its first year of club hockey with minimal support, depth and publicity.

Three years ago, they got about 20 kids for a game. This year? Twenty packed buses in one weekend.

“It’s been a huge difference in terms of attendance (since its inaugural season). It’s significantly hyped up since then and there is talk around campus,” Jurgensen said.

Kristen Reeves, a senior in the College of Arts & Sciences has been frequenting the games since she was a freshman.

“A lot of my guy friends play so I like to support them, but the fact I can have a good time helps,” she said. “That’s what they’re about–playing hard and making fans proud.”

The team is also more popular among prospective players with this year’s tryouts reaching a record number of attendees, in addition to returning 14 of its 23 players next season.

“The program has grown a lot,” senior alternative captain Bryan Daley said. “More and more players show up to tryouts just because we’re doing better.”

And the fans notice– “They’ve gotten so much better. I feel like I’m watching them grow up,” Reeves said.

Fellow senior teammate Cameron Mahoney hopes the success of his class can help the program grow in the future, citing the high cost of playing hockey as something he would like to see change, especially considering that club sports have to file requests for funds from the university.

“Hopefully, we will get more funding,” Mahoney said. “It’s not a cheap sport, it never has been.” Did we mention there are no scholarships involved?

Daley and others had choices to make when they were leaving high school and trying to skate through their college search, questioning how big of a role hockey would play in their lives over the next four years.

“I almost went to a school that offered a DIII team. I would have had to walk on,” Daley said. “But one of the deciding factors for me was that Marquette had a club team. Club hockey allows you to be a student first.”

But for the seniors, these last few games are not only an exclamation point on all they accomplished for the program these last four years, but also the final signature on a large portion of their careers dedicated to the ice, most of which date back to their pre-school years.

“For some guys it’s their last chances to play real competitive hockey again,” Mahoney said. “This is a real close-knit group of guys.”

Jurgensen and Daley also said the friendships they made here are what they will remember most.

“I’m going to remember my teammates that I met here as well as when you walk out on the ice before the game and when you hear the fans,” Daley said. “That moment right there goes unmatched.”