The #2 Arkansas Razorbacks (30-3-0) faced off against DII East Texas Baptist University (21-3-1) at home this past weekend. Friday night’s game got started with two Hog goals in the first five minutes from Trevor McLain and Dylan Odelein. ETBU would respond a few minutes later to cut the lead in half. But the Razorbacks came right back with two quick goals from Griffin Sugasawara and Kyle Patterson to claim a 4-1 lead at the end of one period. Early in the second period, Zach Riley got the Razorbacks’ fifth goal of the night. ETBU would get two goals of their own before the end of the second period, closing the gap to 5-3. The Tigers scored first in the third period to make it 5-4, but that was as close as they would get. Arkansas rattled off an astounding six goals in a span of 3:32 seconds to seal the deal with a final score of 11-4. Chris Stovall scored two goals and Chris Salmon, Michael Ellis, Zach Wilson, and Griffin Sugasawara each had one goal in the third period offensive outburst. Jozef Dusenka put together another highlight-producing performance, turning away 30 shots for his 14th win of the season.
Saturday’s match-up was an important for the Razorbacks as they looked to hit the 30-win mark for just the second time in program history. Arkansas got the scoring started midway through the first period with two quick goals from Kyle Patterson and Jordan Deskeere. A few minutes later ETBU would get on the board, making it 2-1 Razorbacks at the end of the first period. ETBU jumped out quickly in the second period with two more goals, giving them a 3-2 lead. Arkansas would knot things back up at 3-3 before the end of the period, as Chris Stovall cashed in on a rebound. Shaun Foster broke the tie with the eventual game winner four minutes into the third period. Dakota Gottlieb sealed the Razorbacks’ 30th win of the season with a goal in the final minutes. Alex Kalmes stood tall in net, stopping 15 of 18 shots for his 12th win.
This weekend the Hogs will travel to Nashville, TN for the SECHC Tournament at Ford Ice Center-Bellevue. Coming into the tournament as the SECHC top seed, Arkansas matches up against the #8 seed University of Tennessee (10-6-1) in the first-round. Arkansas owns a 3-0 all-time record against Tennessee with a combined score of 41-3. Two of those games have come in the first-round of the SECHC Tournament as well. The first-round match-up will face-off on Friday, February 7th, at 12pm CST and will be streamed live via Penalty Box Radio’s Facebook page. For those interested in tickets, they can be purchased at the door for $15 for a single-day pass or $40 for a weekend pass. More information about the tournament is available here.
The University of Arkansas Men’s Hockey team plays in the Southeastern Collegiate Hockey Conference. The 2019-20 season will be the team’s thirteenth season as a member of the ACHA competing in Division III. The team’s schedule can be found here. All home games are played at The Jones Center for Families in Springdale.