When sophomore defenseman Dylan Reese skated close to the boards, he yelled out, “I ate Reese’s pieces for dinner”—oblivious to the fact that Reese’s parents sat just a few seats away from him.

When freshman forward Dave Watters fired the puck down ice he searched through his notes and came up with, “Conserve Watters, keep him on the bench.”

The typical hockey jeers were there as well, with senior goaltender Dov Grumet-Morris taking most of the heat.

After Cornell’s first goal and the ensuing “It’s all your fault” rant, one Big Red fan passed around a phone number he claimed to be for Grumet-Morris’s mother. As copies of the number floated around the rink, fans began chanting the number in unison.

No word on whether the number was truly that of the goalie’s mother.

As the game moved deep into the third period, the ringleader in my section appeared to be losing steam. With his voice strength fading and his flask apparently empty, he became slightly more subdued—content in the comfort of Cornell’s 2-0 lead.

But as the final seconds ticked away, he managed the strength for one final insult.

“I’ve been here for five years,” he stammered, “And I know by now that you guys just suck.”

Five years? Like I said, check out must be a lot more complicated than you would think.

—Staff writer David H. Stearns can be reached at stearns@fas.harvard.edu.