On November 8 & 9, the Ice Hogs welcomed the Division III Missouri State Bears to Springdale for a pair of critical Pacific Region contests. On Friday night, Arkansas got off to a quick start behind Connor Crumblish’s tally at the 16:39 mark of the first period. Although Missouri State answered about a minute later, the Hogs scored three more unanswered first period goals. The Hogs would add one more in the second period before the Bears answered to make it 5-2 at the end of two periods. Arkansas finished the game with a trio of markers in the third period en route to an 8-2 win. The Razorbacks outshot the Bears in Friday night’s contest by a 55-27 margin.
Saturday’s game was a much closer affair. Although the Hogs jumped out to a 3-1 lead at the end of the first period behind goals from Durancyzk, Toure, and Machos, Missouri State evened things up in the second period and took the lead 4-3 early in the third period. The Hogs then rallied behind a pair of goals from senior captain Martin Sundstedt and another marker from Marcel Toure. The Bears added one more late goal, but Arkansas went on to secure a 6-5 victory. The Bears potted five goals behind just fifteen shots; Arkansas, for its part, had thirty-eight shots in the game.
The pair of victories ran the Hogs win streak to sixteen straight games and extended its home winning streak–a streak that dates back to October of 2011. This weekend, the Razorbacks hit the road to Springfield, Missouri, where they’ll meet the Division II Missouri State Bears in a match-up that has grown in intensity since its inception back in 2009. Arkansas leads the lifetime series–by one game. A more precise historical look back at the series reflects how competitive these games always are:
2009-10
February 12, 2009: Arkansas 4, Missouri State 3 (OT)
February 13, 2009: Missouri State 9, Arkansas 0
2010-11
October 29, 2010: Arkansas 4, Missouri State 3
October 30, 2010: Arkansas 6, Missouri State 3
2011-12
October 28, 2011: Missouri State 5, Arkansas 3
October 29, 2011: Arkansas 5, Missouri State 3
December 9, 2011: Arkansas 9, Missouri State 1
2012-13
October 5, 2012: Missouri State 4, Arkansas 1
October 6, 2012: Missouri State 4, Arkansas 2
The puck drops against the Bears at 7 pm on both Friday and Saturday night. Information on tickets is available here. Both games will be at Mediacom Ice Park in Springfield, Missouri.
