Troy

Outside the Houston Field House Thursday afternoon, a couple RPI hockey players walked by, carrying hockey sticks and bags full of their equipment.

Inside, Dr. Lee McElroy, RPI's associate vice president and athletic director and hockey coach Dave Smith were meeting with the media to discuss the abrupt, but expected end to the Engineers' season.

The coronavirus outbreak, which has wreaked havoc all over the country's sports landscape, claimed RPI's hockey team and the ECAC playoffs on Thursday. RPI, which had home ice advantage for the first time since the 2016 season, was supposed to play Colgate in first game of a best-of-three series Friday night at Houston Field House.

RELATED:

SUNY switches to distance learning amid coronavirus outbreak

RPI suspends in-person instruction, moves classes online

Sign up for the Times Union coronavirus newsletter

Full coronavirus coverage

Instead, the players were scattering to head home after it was announced that the ECAC hockey tournament was being canceled.

McElroy and Smith knew this was coming after seeing the NBA, NHL and college conference tournaments all being called off. Later in the day, the biggest cancelation of all -- the NCAA basketball tournament -- came down. Still, for the RPI hockey team, this still stung. Players were not made available on Thursday, but Smith could vouch for their disappointment.

"Very hard," he said when asked how his players were taking it. "This group, the same as every group, has a story of the season. Right now, our story is unfinished and will remain unfinished, but it will still be written. They did everything in their power to make this a phenomenal story. One of the biggest health situations in history is part of the story and it will be remembered."

RPI, which had a first round bye in the tournament, was the fourth seed. Originally, the Engineers were set to play No. 5 Harvard in the quarterfinals, but the Crimson dropped out on Wednesday and the ECAC reseeded and Colgate, the eighth seed, was the new opponent. That all became moot when the ECAC pulled the plug on the tournament.

In addition, RPI announced that all competition for men's hockey, women's swimming and diving and all nine of its spring sports would be canceled starting Friday. McElroy said that would affect approximately 300 athletes.

"I just left our coaches know we were canceling spring sports and my men's lacrosse team was there," McElroy, who played college football at UCLA, said. "Some of them were bigger than me and they were crying like babies. The ones who were really emotional were the seniors."

McElroy said he will petition the NCAA to allow any seniors of the spring sports to have one more year of eligibility if they choose to return to school.

The hockey team was going into the ECACs the right way having won their last four games and seven of their last 10. RPI finishes with a 17-15-2 record.

"Man, we were on a roll," Smith said. "Anything was possible. Right now, nothing is possible. I am not playing the 'what if' game. I am playing the game of, man, I hope this whole virus in our world ... we can get our hands around it and stop it."

Colgate coach Don Vaughn was just as disappointed as Smith.

"As difficult as this is for our team, and especially our seniors, the health and welfare of our student-athletes, the campus community and others around us is paramount," Vaughn said. "Our guys played their hearts out this season and we made a huge step forward. In time, I hope our seniors forget this day."

There are eight seniors on the RPI roster, including Jake Marrello who is from Slingerlands. McElroy said one of them, Todd Burgess, still has a year of eligibility remaining.

Smith said he did not see any anger for his players because this was something they had no control over. Again, the disappointment was huge.

"I feel for the guys," Smith said. "Anytime business is unfinished, it's uncomfortable. It's awkward. It's unique. Our guys have unfinished business they can't tend to. It's hard to get mad at something you can't see, touch or feel. The coronavirus."

twilkin@timesunion.com - 518-454-5415 - @tjwilkin