Matthew Scott and Zach Wolfe are leaving UAH knowing they had a hand in keeping the Charger club team alive and growing.
The two defensemen finished their UAH hockey careers last Saturday at the Veterans Cup, a 5-4 victory over Middle Tennessee. They graduate in December.
Scott joined the club since it’s re-establishment in 2018. Wolfe joined the following year.
“At my freshmen orientation, I mentioned to a tour guide that I had played travel hockey in high school, and they suggested I reach out to the cub team here at UAH, which had been reformed the previous season,” Wolfe said. “I met club founders Ralph Drensek Jr. and Alex McLeod at a Welcome Week event. They invited me to the team’s tryouts, and the rest is history.”
“I found the club hockey table on my first day on campus in 2018,” Scott said. “After talking to the guys, I was excited to hear that they were bringing back the club hockey team, and I was all in after that.”
Wolfe and Scott were defensemen whose contributions were not reflected on the scoresheet (Scott had five career assists, and Wolfe three), but they have many more memories.
“I have a ton of fond memories with the team, many of them the in-between moments of team meals, warmups, or goofing off with the guys. If I had to pick an all time favorite, though, it would be our overtime win versus Alabama earlier this season,” Wolfe said. “The game was one of the most emotionally charged I have ever played in, and there were a couple moments where I looked down the bench at the guys during stoppages and was kind of overwhelmed at how far we had come in my time here. The whole game was a very even match and the third had been incredibly tense, so the relief and emotion when Corrow scored in overtime was massive. Every player gave their all for that win, and I felt like it was a great testament to how much work our guys had put into making UAH a team worth playing for.”
“I can’t pick just one (memorable moment), but it was special to be a part of the revival of the club program,” Scott said. “The guys did an amazing job of pulling together a competitive team with a great goalie and coaches Mike Quenneville (Coach Q), Ralph Drensek, and Jim Spanier. It turned out we had a really good group and surprised several teams with how competitive we were. We created rivalries with Auburn, Alabama, and UAB. I remember playing against Michigan in our Nashville tournament and playing in a tournament in Daytona Beach. I also enjoyed playing against my brother (Ryan) during his four years playing for Auburn.”
Those moments exemplified just how far the club Chargers have come. They were here for it all: Scott had been on the club team since it was re-established in 2018, playing the most games (72). Wolfe joined the Chargers in 2019, second to Scott in games played with 56.
“Wow, I have been there through all of the ups and downs of the club hockey team,” Scott said. “In the beginning, we had a surprisingly competitive team for our first year. The next couple of years it was a struggle to find enough players and a goalie to keep the team going. We even had a season where we did not win a game. Our coaches have always been supportive and encouraging throughout my time as a Charger. This year was the first year that we had an abundance of players, and it’s nice to see the program growing and succeeding.
UAH won four games in its first season, but rarely was in a game that was decided by more than two goals. The club lost the entire 2020-21 season to the COVID-19 pandemic and then struggled to field a competitive team in 2021-22. The Chargers’ earned a winning season last year and are now in a position to make the College Hockey South Division 2 playoffs.
“The team I joined as a freshman and the team I have played with this season feel like they are decades apart,” Wolfe said. “When the pandemic hit (during my freshman spring semester), we lost essentially our entire roster to graduation or leaving the university for health reasons. By spring 2021, UAH club hockey consisted of myself, Ralph Drensek, Nick Boyce, Zach Nobrega, and Matthew Scott. It took a lot of work just to keep the club from folding, much of it thanks to Ralph and Nick’s administrative efforts.
“As COVID restrictions loosened up, we were able to get some awesome players to play for us; guys like Elijah Howard, Jacob Harrison, Jacob Newman, and Michael Clemons were instrumental in keeping us alive our first season back,” Wolfe said. “Many of those games were not pretty, but we were glad to get a chance to play at all.
“Now, I’ve been fortunate enough to see this team go from struggling to survive, to struggling for the top spot in the AAU D2. We’ve had lots of great hockey players and great guys join the team and contribute to both winning games and creating a team atmosphere worth playing for. I’m grateful for the experiences this team has given me as well as the guys I’ve had the opportunity to get to know better. There’s no other group of guys in club hockey I’d rather have in that locker room.”
“I have had some great coaches,” Scott said. “My first coach (Coach Q) I watched when he coached Alabama when I was a kid. It was great to have him as the first Chargers club team coach. Our second Coach, Drensek, was also very positive and supportive even when we were really struggling, and our current coach, Tim Flynn, has been a great leader and supportive of the team.
“I want to give a special shout-out to Zach Wolfe, who joined in the second year of the program and who is also graduating this year. It has been a great ride!”
“I just want to congratulate Scotty and Wolfey on a great career,” UAH head coach Tim Flynn said. “It’s been a pleasure coaching them. They are two very impressive young men who are always ready and willing to do whatever is asked of them. They deserve a ton of credit for sticking through the tough post-COVID season, always showing up, always working hard and trusting that their hard work would pay off. I’m glad they got to end their career on a high note with a win over MTSU at home. They are leaving UAH Club Hockey better than they found it, and that’s what we’re going to ask of every graduating class.”
Now Scott and Wolfe are looking toward the next chapters of their young lives. Scott is majoring in business management and plans to stay in Alabama to start his career.
“I am headed back to Nashville, where I grew up, to pursue a career in cybersecurity,” Wolfe said. “I still hope to play hockey in some form back home, too. Thankfully, Nashville is not far from Huntsville, so I will absolutely be back to support the team in future games. I’m excited to see where they can go with this foundation.”
Scott and Wolfe would like to offer thanks for their time at UAH.
“I would like to thank my parents for coming to every game,” Scott said. “I also want to thank the coaches and my teammates over the years who have made my time at UAH so memorable.”
“Any shout outs would be remiss without thanking the original founders for giving us a team to play for,” Wolfe said. “Of those guys, extra special thanks goes to Ralph Drensek, Nick Boyce, Zach Nobrega, and Tyler Zwierzchowski for being excellent friends and teammates to me all these years. All the guys who joined our lean roster right after the pandemic, especially Jacob Newman, Jacob Harrison, and Henry Hoard, who all played defense with me during some very short benched games. Kolton and Keaton Watts, Josh Corrow, Bradly McDonald, and Matteo Siciliano for helping take ownership of the team and steer it in the right direction. For the new guys that joined this year and made a good team great, like Tyler Trombly, Andrew Bauer, Ian Arnt, Josh Campbell, Jackson Herman, Kaleb Watts, Nate Litton, and Cameron Crawford, all of whom I have had the pleasure of getting to know better this season. Coach Tim Flynn, who not only took on coaching the team when we could barely ice a squad, but did it without complaint, and helped turn us back into a team. My friends, for showing up to games and cheering the entire time, regardless of if we were any good, turning the Huntsville Iceplex into an exciting barn to play in. Finally, I’m thankful for my parents, who gave me the opportunity to play hockey in the first place, and supported me every step of the way. Playing hockey at UAH has been a great experience through the highs and lows, and I consider myself very blessed to have been a part of the team. Roll Chargers!”
Top photos: Matthew Scott (left) by Jaime Crawford/JC Sports Photography; Zachary Wolfe (right) by McKenna Riopelle.