Student Rush

Faith Masonius of Maryland women’s basketball and Taylor Rech of Maryland gymnastics each have a partnership with the Washington Capitals. 

Each student-athlete is promoting the Capitals’ ''Student Rush'' ticket offer that provides discounted tickets to students for select games throughout the 2023-24 season. Masonius and Rech each attended a Capitals game recently with a few teammates, an experience afforded by the partnership. 

The opportunity was made possible through Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) compensation, where student-athletes can use their platform to promote various brands, companies, and organizations and receive personal gain in return for their positive impact.  

The Maryland Marketplace powered by Opendorse provides NIL opportunities that allow University of Maryland student-athletes to benefit from various opportunities, including ones with major professional sports. 

Both student-athletes received a direct message from the Capitals’ verified account on Instagram regarding the opportunity. They were shocked, and after messaging back and forth they were eager to work with the professional NHL organization and help use their platform to draw more students to their games from the Washington metropolitan area. 

“I grew up watching hockey games, my brother is actually a professional hockey player,” Masonius said. “I've never been to a Caps game though, so it was actually really exciting. It was just a lot of fun. It was awesome to be able to represent a team from the area.”

Joseph Masonius is an older brother of Faith and currently plays for the Cincinnati Cyclones of the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL). They’re a minor league affiliate of the New York Rangers. 

Joseph was a highly touted hockey prospect in high school as he was a part of the U.S. National Team Development Program. He even helped lead the U.S. to the gold medal at the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) under-18 World Championship in Switzerland. He attended college at UConn and was later drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins. 

“My whole family would pile up in our family van and drive three, four hours to his games almost every weekend, so it was a lot of fun,” Masonius said. “We all grew up watching him and my dad screaming at the rink and slamming on the glass.”

Masonius has nine siblings, and sports have always been a big part of her family, especially hockey, given her brother’s success from a young age. It made accepting the partnership an easy decision.

Masonius and Rech were granted four tickets and a jersey through their partnership with the Capitals. Masonius attended the Capitals’ game against the Colorado Avalanche on Feb. 13 and Rech attended the game versus the Carolina Hurricanes on Jan. 5. 

“It was definitely super cool,” Rech said. “During the game, the tickets that they provided also had some lounge access to it. We got to go down into the lounge area and there was food, drinks, desserts and anything you wanted they had there. It was so cool.” 

Rech attended the game with her teammates and close friends Emma Silberman, Alexa Rothenbuescher, and Lindsay Bacheler. Rech, who grew up in Georgia, was never a big hockey fan because the sport isn’t very popular in the South. She made sure to bring teammates who were hockey fans. 

Silberman and Rothenbuescher are Capitals fans, but Bacheler is a fan of the Hurricanes as she’s from North Carolina. Rech says the group she was with made the game very entertaining.

Masonius attended the game with Shyanne Sellers, Lavender Briggs, and Jakia-Brown Turner. She says it was a great experience to go out and do something fun with teammates and friends. 

Masonius, a graduate student, was a student-athlete at Maryland before NIL rights were even created. Rech, a sophomore, has had NIL opportunities since coming to Maryland. Rech says her experience with NIL has been great thus far and is thankful for the opportunities she has opened for herself and those presented to her by One Maryland Collective. 

“It's been pretty smooth,” Rech said. "I work through Opendorse mainly, so it's all been relatively smooth. I’m glad I was able to represent such a large organization. It's all been a really cool experience because I wasn’t expecting it. Just thankful for the opportunity.