Brad Bowes- UCO Hockey- 01/20/2024
UCO Hockey completes season sweep over the Colorado State Rams. On the
weekend the Bronchos outscored the Rams 10 – 2, helped in large part by a 6-goal period when
closing out Friday’s matchup.
UCO took a quick two goal lead early in Friday’s game by way of a blistering hot start from the
Guerra, Sykes, Regan line. A line that had accumulated 29 points through the first 5 games of the
semester, before being held scoreless on Saturday. The Bronchos held that two-goal advantage
through the first period.
Early in the second period the CSU Rams charged back with two quick tallies of their own to
bring things back to even. This is how to game remained until captain J.C. Dubecky cracked the
Rams on the Powerplay 7 minutes into the final frame, from here the Bronchos had the puzzle
solved and were able to score 5 more goals, extending the lead far out of reach for Colorado
State.
The last 10 minutes of the game was a well-earned goal fest for the Bronchos after outshooting
the Rams 44 – 14 in 60 minutes.
On Saturday night it was a similar story with the Bronchos seemingly in complete control,
however unable to effectively convert on a few great opportunities here and there that would
make the enjoyment of the game slightly more comfortable. Near the end of the first period
Davin Burton opened the scoring on the powerplay. His shot from the point found its way
through a nice Sebastien Doucet screen in front. This goal was all the Bronchos needed as the
Rams would never be able to find twine on Artem Lantukh, and he secured his 3 rd shutout of the
season.
The Bronchos eventually added insurance to their first goal, but it wouldn’t come until the 3 rd
period. It came off a fortunate bounce as Rabroker sent a puck into the zone off the glass, the
puck ricocheted from the stanchion and directly into the Rams net while the Simon was making
his way out to cover the expected play.
The Bronchos are gearing up face the University of Nevada Las Vegas Rebels in a highly
anticipated game between the two top teams in the conference. The Bronchos currently have 13-
points and 2 games in hand separating them from the Rebels who are in 2 nd place of the WCHL.
This weekend could have major implications on who wins the conference, and its sure to garner
attention around the league as it’s a classic rivalry between two perennial title contenders.
Scoring Recap (Friday)
1 – 0 (Sykes. Guerra)
2 – 0 (Regan. Guerra, Sykes) End of Period 1
2 – 1 (Hunt-Bahn. Decker, Maestas)
2 – 2 (Maestas. Decker, Latkovski) End of Period 2
3 – 2 (Dubecky. Sykes, Regan)
4 – 2 (Hogan. Rabroker, Burton)
5 – 2 (Dubecky. Sykes, Regan)
6 – 2 (Sykes. Guerra, Burton)
7 – 2 (Rabroker. Mondi)
8 – 2 (Rebmann. Doucet, St. Clair) End of Game.
Scoring Recap (Saturday)
1 – 0 (Burton. Hogan, Stalzer) End of Period 1
End of Period 2
2 – 0 (Rabroker. Burton) End of Game.