On December 7 and 8, 2012, the Ice Hogs (15-8-1, #6 South) take on the Memphis Tigers (4-7-0) in the two teams’ final games of the first semester. The Tigers are coming off of a dominating win over Mississippi State last Saturday. The Razorbacks, on the other hand, took two of three last weekend and put themselves in a good position to secure their fourth consecutive SECHC-West conference title.
On Friday, the Ice Hogs took on the Ole Miss Rebels and turned in an uninspired effort en route to a 4-1 loss. Despite outshooting the Rebels 40-27, the Hogs could not find the back of the net and, instead, regularly found themselves in penalty trouble. The Rebels opened the scoring in the first period and never looked back. They led 1-0 after the first period, 2-0 after the second, and won the final frame 2-1.
The Razorbacks channeled their frustration into amassing twenty more goals on the weekend, fifteen of which came on Saturday as the Hogs exploded for a 15-1 victory over the Auburn Tigers. The Hogs picked up on Sunday morning where Saturday left off by scoring five goals against a talented Alabama team en route to a 5-1 victory. The three games completed the Razorbacks’ conference play for the season and the two wins ran the team’s conference record to 7-1-0.
From here, the Hogs will have to wait to see if they earn their fourth consecutive regular season title. Should Ole Miss win its remaining games and also finish 7-1 in conference play (see their schedule here), then Article II(3) of the SEC bylaws would break the tie. It provides the following tie-breakers:
1. Head to head record
2. Divisional wins
3. Overall wins
4. Division goal differential
5. Coin toss
The teams are tied applying tie-breakers one and two. But, the Razorbacks’ fifteen total wins already (compared to the Rebels’ nine) suggests that tie-breaker three will bring Arkansas its fourth title.
This weekend marks the first time that Arkansas has tangled with the Memphis Tigers. The Razorbacks will not return to the Jones Center again until January 25 & 26 when they take on the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Titans (DII). Game times for both games this Friday and Saturday are 7:30 pm. Tickets are available for sale at the rink on the day of the game. General seating tickets are $8, standing room only is $5, and students with an ID are admitted for $3. More detailed ticket information is available here.
Finally, before you head to the rink on Friday, check the team’s social media pages to see where the Hogs are ranked in the second rankings (released on Friday before 5 pm).
