Arizona men’s hockey split a two game road series against the University of Oklahoma Nov. 1-2. The two games were played on Friday and Saturday in Arctic Edge Ice Arena. Arizona won game one 6-3 but lost to Oklahoma on Saturday 2-3.
Game 1:
The Wildcats started the series with Haydn Gould in net. Through his first five games this season, Gould has a record of 3-2 with both losses coming in the team’s previous series against the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
With 10:40 left in the first period, forward Riley Ruh put Arizona on the board first taking a 1-0 lead with his 3rd goal of the season. The Wildcats’ early lead held through the rest of the first period.
After killing a power play at the beginning of the second period, forward Eddie Slack doubled Arizona’s lead to make the score 2-0. This was Slack’s 1st goal of the season, after recording only 2 goals for the team last year.
Shortly after Slack’s goal, Arizona got a power play and quickly cashed in with a goal by defenseman Nicholas Chiocca to go up 3-0 with 16:30 left in the second period.
After going on a power play of their own, Oklahoma was able to get on the board with 11:57 left in the second period.
This positive momentum for Oklahoma only lasted so long as forward Dylan Walker made it a 4-1 game with 5:40 left in the period. This season, Walker ranks third on the team in points with eight, totaling 3 goals and five assists so far.
After Arizona was unsuccessful on a power play early in the third period, Oklahoma got on a power play of its own and capitalized making it a 4-2 game with 12:52 remaining in regulation.
Just 34 seconds after Oklahoma’s goal, Arizona was able to get back on a power play and Chiocca cashed in for his second power play goal of the game with 11:30 left in the third period. Through Arizona’s first nine games, Chiocca is leading the team in points with 10.
Oklahoma was able to get another power play goal with 2:21 left in the game to make the score 5-3. However, forward Ari Rossi put the game away with an empty net goal to give Arizona a 6-3 win in the first game of the series.
Game 2:
On Saturday the Wildcats started TJ Demeulenaere in net for game two of the series against Oklahoma. Demeulenaere made his season debut after starting 12 games for the team last season.
With 9:54 left in the first period, Oklahoma scored first to take the early lead 1-0. Just over a minute later, Oklahoma extended the lead to 2-0.
After failing a power play earlier in the period, Arizona got another chance later and cashed in, with a goal by forward Carter Hanrahan with seven seconds left in the first period to cut the lead to 2-1.
The second period saw both teams fail to convert on a power play as the score stood 2-1 heading into the third period.
With 17:29 left in the game, Oklahoma scored to double their lead. Just over a minute later, Arizona was able to get on a power play and cashed in on a goal by Ruh to make it a 3-2 game.
Arizona wasn’t able to get any more offense going for the rest of the game and fell to Oklahoma 3-2 to split the series.
Looking ahead:
Arizona sits in a tie with Missouri State University for fourth in the WCHL standings with 12 points on the season. The teams’ next game will be on Friday Nov. 15 against GCU. The team will not return home until Dec. 6 when they play against ASU.
Follow the Daily Wildcat on Instagram and Twitter/X
