The Broncho Barn was buzzing over the weekend as UCO faced WCHL opponent, The Colorado State University Rams. UCO was able to tame the Rams in both matchups to extend their winning streak as well as their lead in the WCHL standings.
Friday night the Bronchos came out firing as Jordan Sgro and Jaxon Bombardier made marks on the scoreboard to take the early lead headed into the first intermission. Colorado State’s, Ty Doan would cut the lead in half in the second period before Central Oklahoma’s Davin Burton was able to answer the call minutes before the second intermission. The third period was all UCO as Burton was able to capitalize on the power play to add his second goal of the contest and Zach Guerra capped the scoring for the evening with the Cho’s winning 5-1. UCO went 50% on the power play opportunities and Colorado State went 20% on their power play chances.
Saturday evening was a barn burner of a game. Colorado State came out of the gate determined to try and take the win, but Central Oklahoma was equal to the task. CSU’s Max Debardinis struck first in the game to lead the Rams into the first intermission with the lead 1-0. Jackson Birdsall extended the lead midway through the second period before Vitali Mikhailov and Sam Sykes tied the game up leading into the final intermission. Debardinis scored his second goal of the game early in the third period to allow CSU to reclaim the lead deep into the contest. Broncho forward, Mikhailov, tied it up with less than three minutes left in regulation. It appeared that the packed out crowd was going to get extra hockey as the game looked like it would head into overtime. But that was before Zach Guerra sniped one past Colorado State goalie, Sam Simon to take the lead for the Chos 4-3. Colorado State called a time out to devise a plan to try and extend the game into overtime, pulling Simon and adding an extra attacker on the next faceoff. UCO won the faceoff as the puck was sent back to defenseman JC Dubecky. Dubecky chipped the puck off the glass to clear the defensive zone and the puck found it’s way into the back of the empty net to seal the game 5-3 for the Bronchos.
UCO has a short practice week before heading into a 3 game weekend against WCHL opponents, Grand Canyon University on Thursday night, and Arizona State both Friday and Saturday night at the Broncho Barn. Game time for all three games will be at 7:30pm CST. Tickets are still available at the door for all three games.