The DIII Ice Hogs had themselves a weekend at the Jones Center. The North Texas Mean Green only showed up with just eight players on their roster, so the Hogs were expected to win big, and they did just that. On Friday, the Razorbacks went out and took a 3-0 lead after the first period, with goals from Brooks Moore, Garret Jackson, and Griffin Sugasawara. And they didn’t slow down after that; the Hogs scored four goals in the second period, and three in the third. Dylan Odelein put the cherry on top–finishing off his hat trick to put the Hogs up 10-0 with 5:10 remaining in the game, and that would be the final.
Arkansas and North Texas squared off again on Saturday morning. The Hogs picked up on the scoring right away. Just 41 seconds into the game, Trevor McLain put Arkansas up 1-0, and he would eventually put up a hat trick in the first period alone. The Hogs went to the locker room up 10-0 at the end of the first period. In the second, Dylan Odelein put up his second hat trick in as many days to put the Hogs up 17-1 going into the final frame. The third period was a little quieter, and the final score ended 18-2 Razorbacks.
This weekend on Friday and Saturday at the Jones Center, The DIII Ice Hogs will face Missouri State University who will be opening their season. Friday’s game will be at 7:30 pm, and the rematch on Saturday will begin at 11:30 am. The Hogs will look to improve on their 4-0 record for the season. The DIII Hogs faced Missouri State three times last season. After losing the first time 3-1, Arkansas went on to beat Missouri State twice in a row at their place 7-3 and 5-1. All time the Ice Hogs are 19-8 against the DIII Ice Bears.
Meanwhile, the Division I Ice Hogs will open their season with a trip to Oklahoma this weekend. First stop will be at the University of Central Oklahoma on Thursday at 8:00 pm. The Bronchos are coming into the weekend after being swept by Lindenwood last weekend. The DI Hogs faced UCO three times last year. Then the defending National Champions, UCO beat the Hogs in all three meetings. On Friday, Arkansas heads to Oklahoma City to face off against Oklahoma University at 7:00 pm, and then play them again on Sunday at 4:00 pm. The Hogs faced Oklahoma twice last year at the Jones Center. Coming away 1-1 with a 3-2 loss and a 5-4 win. The Sooners are coming into the weekend after splitting their series with Alabama last weekend.
The Division I Ice Hogs return sixteen players, including last year’s team points leader and leading scorer, Luc Gradisar. The The team also returns leading point-getters Chris Stovall and Cory Delisle. Arkansas welcomes ten new faces to the team this season. Several of the new faces are coming in from last year’s Division III ranks, including standouts Alex Kueser and Jozef Dusenka.
The University of Arkansas fields two hockey teams. The Division I team recently released its 2018-19 schedule (view here). It has, since 2015, competed in the Western Collegiate Hockey Conference (learn more here). All home games are played at The Jones Center for Families in Springdale.
