SLIPPERY ROCK — Being a little fish in a big pond?

Slippery Rock University’s inline hockey team has no problem with it.

Despite being one of the smallest schools in the Eastern Collegiate Roller Hockey Association, SRU is headed to the 15th annual National Collegiate Championships in Fort Myers, Fla., for the second time in three years.

The Rock’s Division II team (15-3-0) finished second in the Mid-Atlantic Conference this season, finishing ahead of Delaware, Rutgers and Drexel, among others.

During pool play in the national tourney — which begins Wednesday — SRU will play St. Louis University, Cincinnati and Arizona.

“We have a pool of about 8,000 under-graduates to draw from and we routinely face teams that can draw from 30,000 to 40,000 students,” SRU goalie and Inline Hockey Cluib president Christian Ricketts said. “And we’re one of the best dressed teams in Division II.

“We all wear matching color jerseys and helmets. A lot of teams don’t do that. Our players are very committed to the program. We’re only a club sport on campus, so it costs each player close to $1,000 a year to get through the season.”

The Rock had more than 100 students try out for its teams this year. SRU began a “B” team this season, which also qualified for nationals with a 13-2-1 record.

SRU sophomore and Prospect resident Jeremy Hesidenz plays for the “B” team. Both Rock squads have 11 players and a goaltender.

“There’s some difference in quality, but not a whole lot between the B team and our Division II squad,” Hesidenz said. “We scrimmage against them at times and hold our own.”

Hesidenz played inline hockey in Butler before the program disbanded. He tried out for SRU’s team last year and made the “B” squad this year.

“The competition for spots is tough,” he said.

Many of SRU’s inline players are former ice hockey players who choose inline because of lesser expenses. Jeff Christ, a junior, is one of them.

“I’ve played ice hockey my entire life,” Christ said. “This is my first year of competitive inline hockey. I talked to my parents about playing hockey in college and inline is a lot cheaper.”

Christ said SRU’s teams are successful because they’re committed to playing an aggressive forechecking game.

“Our scoring is very balanced because we get a lot of goals off turnovers,” he said. “We have an unselfish team. We played a couple of preseason games in Philadelphia this year. We were able to get to know each other and bond together.”

Christian Scott leads the Division II team with 22 goals and 48 points. Zach Morton has 20 goals, Matt Rapp 18, Grove City product Ryan McGeehan 14 and Chris Allison 13.

Ricketts has a 2.88 goals-against average with two shutouts this season.

“I probably face 25 shots a game or so,” Ricketts said. “The inline rink is smaller than an ice hockey rink, so the game is fast-paced. The flow can turn around quickly. You have to be on your toes.”

The SRU Student Government is funding the teams’ flight to Florida and hotel expenses. All other expenses come out of the players’ pockets.

SRU plays Cincinnati at 11 a.m. Thursday, then faces Arizona at 11:45 p.m. that night. The team reached the round of eight in 2011 before losing to Wisconsin.

“We’ll have some long days down there, but it will be fun,” Ricketts said.