Though the University of Maine men’s ice hockey team did not win its game against the University of Massachusetts on Saturday night, one Black Bear skated off the ice with a big W under his belt.
Standout UMaine defensive player Jakub Sirota surprised his girlfriend, Dominika Ivanická, and family gathered at the game, by proposing to her in front of the crowd at the Alfond Arena on Saturday night.
Sirota secretly worked with UMaine Black Bears staff and videographer Simon French to capture the moment.
Sirota, 24, a native of the Czech Republic and a graduate student in business and marketing, started his career with UMaine in 2018, after several years playing in his home country and for a junior league team in Texas. He is the captain of the UMaine team. He and fellow Czech native Ivanická I have been dating for more than five years.
The Black Bears will take on the University of Vermont at 7 p.m. Wednesday in a first-round playoff game at the Alfond Arena. If UMaine wins, it will visit third seed Northeastern on Saturday for a quarterfinal game. If Vermont wins, it will travel to take on regular season champion and top seed Boston University.