The University of Arkansas Men’s Hockey Team today announced its ACHA Division I and III rosters for the 2017-18 season. In doing so, Arkansas enters only its third year of Division I play and simultaneously its third season fielding two teams. The University of Arkansas is the only SEC school to field two hockey teams and was the first SEC school to elevate its flagship team to Division I.
Entering the 2017-18 season, the Division I roster is young—boasting just four seniors. The twenty-nine man roster includes seven juniors, five sophomores, and twelve freshmen. In total, the Division I team welcomes fifteen new players to a roster that includes just one true freshman. Team captains for the Division I squad are James Haddock, Jacob Brown, Jesse Foskey, Landyn Howze, and Collin Young.
The Division I team will look to rebound from a challenging 2016-17 season that saw the team open the season strong, but falter midway through the fall semester as injuries piled up. The 2017-18 season opens tomorrow at 4:45 pm with a free preseason scrimmage against the Springfield Express—a junior team from the Western States Hockey League. After the Express contest, the team will formally open its season on the road against the Illinois State Redbirds on September 8 & 9.
The Division III Razorbacks are likewise young. Andrew DeNome returns to captain a roster that includes just three returning seniors and seven returning juniors. Five sophomores and twelve freshmen round out first-year Head Coach Collin Hesse’s twenty-seven-man roster. The Division III team will look to improve on a thirteen win season that, for the first time since the 2008-09, saw the team exit the SECHC conference tournament without a win. The Division III Hogs open their season on the road against Kansas in the Pacific Region Showcase on September 15.
Across both rosters, players from eighteen different states made the team alongside five Canadians, one Slovenian, and one player from Sweden.
View the Division I roster here: Division I Roster
View the Division III roster here: Division III Roster