The Hogs headed to Edwardsville, Illinois, to take on Southern Illinois-Edwardsville in a pair of games to open up the second semester. The two teams hooked up for a pair of games earlier in the season when the Cougars visited Springdale, AR, back on September 28 and 29 when Razorbacks cruised to 11-0 and 9-0 victories respectively.
The Razorbacks entered the weekend series following a week-long training camp during which the team skated for over a week in preparation for the second semester. In addition to their on-ice preparation and off-ice ice conditioning workouts, the team also performed substantial community service at the LifeSource food pantry in Fayetteville, AR, the Prairie Grove Senior Center in Prairie Grove, AR, and visited four different Northwest Arkansas Hockey Association youth practices. The preparation collectively assured that the Hogs’ second meeting with the SIUE Cougars produced results similar to their first meeting.
On Friday night, the Hogs got off to a sluggish two-goal first period start that allowed the Cougars to keep the game within reach. That period aside, Arkansas had cruised to a 16-1 victory that saw freshman Ryan Machos pot four goals alongside freshman Jansen Polk’s hat trick. Martin Sundstedt and Chris Green each added a pair of goals. Spencer Mulgrew earned the victory in net for the Razorbacks.
Saturday produced a similar result as the Razorbacks again overwhelmed the Cougars en route to a 17-1 victory. Amidst goals by Ryan Machos, Johnny Stromp, Martin Sundstedt, Chris Green, and Mason Brower–among others–defenseman Tucker Campbell finished the evening plus ten. The two victories pushed the Ice Hogs’ overall record to 19-8-1. Kevin Scheer earned the victory in goal for Arkansas.
The team is off this coming weekend but returns to the Jones Center on January 25 & 26 to take on Division II opponent University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. The two games will mark the first meetings between the two teams and the first time a team from Wisconsin has visited the University of Arkansas for a hockey game.
