Brad Bowes-UCO Hockey
12/2/2023 – University of Central Oklahoma Bronchos defeat the University of Oklahoma
Sooners by a cumulative weekend score of 9 – 3. With two well-furnished victories this
weekend, UCO brings their win streak up to 15 games elapsing 4 seasons of this in state rivalry.
The Bronchos, and especially the first-year players surely had this game circled on their
calendar all semester, fans and players alike were eager for the first matchup of the season
against OU, and as always it was accompanied by a rocking Broncho Barn crowd. UCO took the
game on Friday by a score of 4 – 2, comfortably coasting to victory despite OU narrowing the
deficit to 2 goals with 15 minutes left and dreams of silencing the UCO crowd. That scenario
never played itself out as the Bronchos were able to stay disciplined for the final 10 minutes and
shut the door on any hopes of an OU comeback.
The Bronchos handled the Sooners by way of a 37 – 14 shot differential, outshooting
them in every period, this was an impressive feat considering UCO had tripled the Sooners in
penalty minutes.
Despite the strong win for the Bronchos on Friday, and an incredible record at the
halfway point in the season, they are not impermeable and will need to prove to themselves they
have the chops to win the national tournament at the end of the year. The Bronchos biggest issue
to this point has been their undisciplined play at moments, and the Bronchos are capable of
making up for their rough style of play behind their high-octane offense and stalwart defense.
However, when it comes to the national tournament, teams will be ready to dismantle an
opponent if given too many powerplays.
On Saturday the Bronchos were able to flip their penalty woes and drum the sooners to a
tune of 5 – 1. The Bronchos did much of their damage on the powerplay, scoring 4 goals on 9
powerplay attempts, and over the course of the game the Sooners walked away with more
infractions. This led to the Bronchos outshooting the Sooners 39 – 22, but this game featured an
uptick from the last game in high quality scoring chances from either team.
The Bronchos will take a break for Christmas before they come back in the second
semester and face #24 Iowa State Cyclones on January 5 th and 6 th on home ice.
Scoring Recap (Friday)
1 – 0 (Eha. Hogan)
2 – 0 (Regan. Guerra, Sykes)
2 – 1 (Mondou. Law, Barone)
3 – 1 (Ondrej. Rabroker) End of Period 1.
4 – 1 (Doucet. St Clair) End of Period 2.
4 – 2 (Barone. unassisted) End of Game.
Scoring Recap (Saturday)
1 – 0 (Eha. Mikhailov) End of Period 1.
2 – 0 (Hogan. Rabroker)
3 – 0 (Mikhailov. Hogan) End of Period 2.
4 – 0 (Sykes. Guerra)
5 – 0 (Ondrej. Dubecky, Sykes)
5 – 1 (Bassett. Barone, Law) End of Game.