On Friday and Saturday, September 14 and 15, the Division III Ice Hogs opened up their twelfth season against SECHC rival Vanderbilt.
On Friday, the Hogs got off to a hot start in the first period by jumping out to a 2-0 lead over the Commodores. Both goals were scored by rookie Griffin Sugasawara. Veterans Aiden Everett and Zach Palmer got the assists on the goals. Seventeen seconds into the second period Zach Palmer rung up another one for the Hogs, with the assist from Aiden Everett to go up 3-0. With 7:21 remaining in the game, sophomore Alex Parisi gave the Hogs a 4-0 lead and rookie Trevor McClain received credit for the assist. The Hogs would end up getting the victory, beating the Commodores 4-1.
Saturday’s rematch started a bit slower. Following a scoreless first period, senior Aiden Everett put one on the board for the Hogs 1:50 into the second period, assisted by rookie Dylan Odelein. With six minutes left in the second period, veteran Alex Kueser gave the Hogs a 2-0, as Dylan Odelein picked up his second assist. Twelve seconds after the Commodores cut the lead in half, Alex Kueser rung up another goal for the Hogs to go up 3-1. Alex Kueser scored his third goal of the game in thee final frame to push the Razorback lead to 4-2. Later in the third, Griffin Sugasawara scored and then, with seven minutes remaining in the game, Kueser scored his fourth goal of the game to give the Hogs a 6-2 win.
Following the Vanderbilt sweep, Arkansas faces the University of North Texas (1-3-0) on September 21 & 22. The two teams have met five times previously with the Ice Hogs owning a lifetime series lead of 4-1. The teams last met during the 2010-2011 season, when they faced one another three times. The Ice Hogs would sweep the Mean Green that season, beating them 7-5, 1-0 and 1-0. Puck drop on Friday will be at 7:30 PM on then 11:00 AM on Saturday.
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.
