(Photo: Reagan Smith/WCSN)
When first mentioning chemistry and support, the first thought would be to look at a team and its players and see how they’ve gelled together. What often gets overlooked is the support these players receive from the off the respected platform they play on.
For sophomore goaltender Macy Eide, that outside support acts as both a sense of security and motivation to push ahead.
“[Having support at games] is the best feeling ever honestly,” Eide said. “It’s nice to look into bleachers full of people and you see the people that mean the most to you.”
Among the faces of those who support her, there’s one who stands out above the rest — her boyfriend, Jackson Fuller.
Fuller is a sophomore at Grand Canyon University and has been a constant face at Oceanside Ice Arena each game. No matter if Eide is starting or playing backup, it has become an expectation to see Fuller’s bearded face cheering on Eide and the team.
“No matter if I’m benched or playing, he has come to every one of my games since he has come back to Arizona from Minnesota to continue his schooling,” Eide said. “He’s honestly my other half.”
To find where it all started, though, you have to scale the clocks back to high school.
“We originally went to high school together for a little bit,” Fuller said. “[Eide] moved down here, and then I came to look at Grand Canyon University [and] fell in love with the campus.”
From there, what started as just friends reconnecting with each other blossomed into something that runs so much deeper. They share a companionship that transcends the sport itself, but also shapes the lives of the two outside the rink.
It can be as simple as recognizing an issue through body language alone. Other times, it can be those spur of the moment events that stick in your head long after they’re completed.
“[Jackson] knows I love to dance,” Eide said. “So he’ll put a song on and I’ll start to dance and then he will. I think two nights ago we had a dance battle in my room and we laughed for a good 30 minutes.”
Being a boyfriend to a hockey player also means being the hype man for them — something Eide says Fuller has done a perfect job of doing.
On Sept. 29, 2019, Eide recorded her first career shutout in Denver, Colo. against the University of Denver. Eide saved all 14 shots that came her way.
Fuller was one of the very first to congratulate Eide.
“As soon as I got on the bus, he called me and told me how proud he was,” Eide said. “And that he was excited to watch me play and see me get a shutout. He also hyped up how I received the hard hat (the team’s MVP award) for that game. He is my favorite hype man, always making me feel like an MVP.”
After that series, Fuller made a promise to Eide that he would make it out to every remaining game in the spring semester. A promise he has kept faithfully.
That type of support is needed for any player, but when someone is a goalie, having that support can carry a much heavier meaning.
The goalie is the last line of defense for a team and that’s a heavy weight to carry. One wrong read can potentially be the difference between a win or a loss.
“Hockey can get mentally draining, especially as a goalie,” Eide said. “Self esteem can go down quickly, the same with confidence if there’s a lack of playing time, or if practice felt rough that week.”
When those moments inevitably happen, Fuller is always there to blow the wind back into Eide’s sails. It is something that Eide holds near and dear to her.
“He’s always been there to tell me how much potential I have and how proud of me he is, which makes the rough days easier. When I’ve been on the bench and see him during a game, it’s this reassurance that I still have someone who came to see me even though I’m not playing. And it’s a person that I care about that I get to walk out of the locker room and hug after the game.”
At the rink, Fuller may appear to be just another Sun Devil fan cheering on the team and the player donning the No. 1 jersey. That fan cheering on ASU and Eide is not a typical fan — he’s a committed companion.
“I will always be grateful for him being by my side through it all,” Eide said.
