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Steve Stich, with some help from alum Jeff Waite, formed the team during the 1990-1991 Season.
The team played mostly exhibition games that year, and did well enough to garner interest
from other SJSU students. Practices and games were held at Eastridge Ice Arena and Ron Glasow
was chosen as coach.
During the 1991-1992 Season, the team grew by leaps and bounds. Steve, with Ron and Jeff's
help, spread the word and soon attracted some quality hockey players (mostly grad students or
open university students) to the program.
The team went nearly undefeated during it's first full campaign and began play in the Pacific
Collegiate Hockey Association (PCHA) that year. The team played home games at the
Golden Gate Ice Arena (now Ice Oasis) in Redwood City.
Below is a timeline of the club's history...
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October 13, 1990 - Ice Hockey at San Jose State meets for their first practice, organized by their
founder and president Steve Stich.
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October 20, 1990 - Ron Glasow is named head coach, and Jeff Waite is named captain for the
1990-1991 season.
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November 17, 1990 - The first game is played by the San Jose State Hockey team against Cal's
'B' team at Berkeley Iceland. San Jose State wins the game 6-0 and Steve Stich appropriately scores
the first goal in club history, sliding in a rebound to the left of the Cal goaltender. Jim Campbell
records the first assist. Goaltender Paul Legreski records the shutout.
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March, 1991 - The Spartans conclude their inaugural season with a 2-4-2 record. Cody Smith
finishes the season as leading scorer and Jeff Waite leads the team in penalty minutes.
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Summer, 1991 - SJSU becomes an official member of the Pacific Collegiate Hockey Association
(PCHA), entering a 13-team Division II league.
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March 7, 1992 - San Jose State caps an undefeated season (17-0) by winning the PCHA
Division II Championship, defeating St. Mary's College 4-1 in the final, which was held in Fresno.
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March, 1993 - After the cancellation of the league playoffs scheduled at Stanford, the
PCHA declares San Jose State the Division I Champion, due to its holding of the best regular
season record.
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April, 1994 - Led by Lou Siville's shutout goaltending, the Spartans win their
second straight PCHA Division I Championship by defeating Cal 3-0 in the finals. Tony Destro's
goal early in the third period broke a tense 0-0 tie to help give SJSU its third title in a row.
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March, 1995 - San Jose State wins its third consecutive PCHA Division I Championship,
defeating Orange Coast College 3-2 in overtime. Tony Destro scored the winning goal after a
brilliant end-to-end rush by Joel Jenkins 9 minutes into a thrilling sudden-death overtime at the
Ice Centre at San Jose.
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March, 1995 - San Jose State is selected for the American Collegiate Hockey Association
(ACHA) National Collegiate Club Hockey Tournament in Fort Collins, CO. The Spartans go 1-2,
defeating Southern Connecticut, but losing to Kentucky and eventual National Champion Colorado
State. The Spartans finish 5th out of 8 teams.
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March, 1996 - For the second consecutive year, the Spartans are selected to the ACHA National
Tournament, this time held in Tampa, FL. After a come-from-behind 5-4 win over Rutgers in the
opening game, SJSU falls to Southern Florida and Bradley University to finish 13th out of 16 teams.
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March, 1997 - After failing to qualify for the National Tournament, San Jose State wins
its 4th PCHA Division I title (5th overall) with a 7-1 victory over Orange Coast College in
Stockton, CA.
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Summer, 1997 - San Jose State withdraws from the PCHA and becomes and independent club team
in the ACHA's Division II.
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December, 1997 - San Jose State defeats Cal 12-0 in the opener, and Stanford 4-3 in the
finals to win their 1st Gold Rush Tournament title.
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March, 1998 - San Jose State ranks third in the ACHA West Region and qualifies for the
National Tournament, held in Newark, N.J. Despite a spirited showing, the Spartans lose to
Michigan State, Miami (OH), and Rutgers.
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December, 2000 - San Jose State loses 8-7 to the Palmer College Pride when Colin Chala
scores on Spartan goaltender Eric Lahrs as the final shooter in a shootout.
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February, 2001 - San Jose State fails to make the ACHA National
Tournament, finishing 6th in the West Region.
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February, 2001 - San Jose State fails to make the ACHA National
Tournament, finishing 6th in the West Region.
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April, 2001 - The ACHA holds its annual league-wide meeting.
After several teams make bids to host the 2002 National tournament,
the league votes New York University in Manhattan as host.
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September, 2001 - Terrorist attacks in downtown Manhattan threaten
the ACHA tournament at Chelsea Piers on the lower east side.
After some debate, the ACHA votes to continue with the tournament as planned.
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December, 2001 - San Jose State beats Cal and Palmer College
to win the Gold Rush trophy.
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February, 2002 - Freshman center Jason Marconcini threatens
Brett Faulhauber's record of 33 goals in one season, but comes up short with 30.
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February, 2002 - San Jose State finishes 4th in the West Region
to earn a berth in the ACHA National Tournament in New York, NY. They
would lose the first game 5-0 to host NYU. The second game would prove to be
even more disasterous with a 12-1 loss to Robert Morris. Old friends University of Michigan
would then close out the Spartans' season by handing them an 8-1 defeat.
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February, 2003 - The team finishes the season 10-7-4, but are not selected to play in the
ACHA National Tournament.
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February, 2004 - The team finishes 12-10-4 and are once again passed over for the
ACHA National Tournament.
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May, 2004 - Defenseman Ryan Richardson is selected as a 2nd Team
All-American.
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March, 2005 - The team finishes 3rd in the West with a 23-6-2 record, earning themselves a trip to the
ACHA National Tournament in Detroit, Michigan. In their first game, the team pulls out a dramatic 5-4 overtime
victory against Penn State, with captain Ray Kellam netting the game-winner. However, a 12-1 thrashing at the hands
of the eventual National Champion Michigan State Spartans dashes the team's hopes of taking home the title.
A 4-1 loss at the hands of Miami (Ohio) ends the Spartans' stellar season on a sour note.
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May, 2005 - The Spartans rack up the post-season hardware as sophomore goaltender Ryan Lowe, posting a 12-6-1 record,
earns 1st Team All-West Region honors; freshman wing Sean Scarbrough earns 2nd Team All-West Region honors with a team-leading 30 goals;
and Head Coach Ron Glasow is selected as the ACHA West Region Coach of the Year.
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October 16, 2005 - In an 8-2 win over Long Beach State, graduate student Aaron Scott nets the 200th point of his Spartan career, becoming the first player to
reach the bicentennial mark.
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February, 2006 - The Spartans finish their finest regular season to date with an astounding 26-1-1 record, including
an undefeated 18-0-1 record at home. The team is voted first place in the West Region for the first time in franchise
history and heads to the National Tournament in Rochester, New York as favorites to take home the title.
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March, 2006 - The team's cinderella season comes to an abrupt end as they are upset in their opening game 5-2 by eventual
National Runners-Up Liberty University. The Spartans keep their hopes of moving on to the semifinal round alive by defeating the defending National
Champion Michigan State Spartans 3-1, but fail to make advance after Liberty wins their final game of pool play. The Spartans end their season with
a close 4-3 loss to Penn State.
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May, 2006 - The Spartans once again take home significant post-season hardware as junior goaltender Ryan Lowe, posting an impressive 23-3-1 record, along with
a 2.47 Goals-Against Average and a .923 Save-Percentage, earns 1st Team All-American (as well as 1st Team All-West Region) honors.
Meanwhile, Head Coach Ron Glasow is selected as the ACHA National Coach of the Year and
sophomore wing Sean Scarbrough, after leading the team in scoring with 53 points and setting a new single-season club record with 36 goals,
is selected to the All-West Region's 3rd Team.
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Spartan History: Origins of a Mascot
By Thomas Guide
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We labor without tire.
We fight without fear.
We conquer without mercy.
We are warriors.
We are winners.
We are Spartans.
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In 1924, the year our mascot was officially chosen, our university was known as the San Jose State
Teachers' College. In the beginning of the fall semester, its newspaper, the State Teachers' College
Times, called upon students' imaginations and pens to create and decide upon a physical representative
of what their school meant to them. This was partly in response to the formation of an organized sports
program at the college. It was felt that a mascot would make a positive influence on athletes and
fellow students: unifying both by providing grand displays of their collective collegiate pride.
A mascot is generally supposed to epitomize noble qualities and traits to admire. To that end, most
names embodied strength, courage, determination, and valor...The boards final cut consisted of five
names, and one day was given to vote between the Golds, the Spartans, the Badgers, the Hawks, and the
Mustangs. On January 5th, 1924, the Spartans edged out the Golds by an incredibly narrow 10-vote margin.
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