UCO Hockey Breaks Even Against Colorado State

The University of Central Oklahoma men’s hockey team broke even in their series against Colorado State University this past weekend at the Arctic Edge Ice Arena in Edmond, Oklahoma. 

The Bronchos opened up the series with a 2 to 1 victory Friday, then subsequently lost the second game 7 to 2 on Saturday. Their performance against the visiting Colorado State Rams puts them at a 2-8 overall record for the 2025-26 season. 

On Friday, The Bronchos came out firing when Cullen Hogan scored a goal within the first two minutes of the period off an assist by Sebastien Doucet. UCO’s defense held Colorado State scoreless for the remainder of the period. 

Central Oklahoma scored their second and final goal of the match at the beginning of the second period, with a score from Carter Demelo off an assist from Jeffrey Rebman and Sam Sykes. The goal by Demelo would prove crucial for the Bronchos as it gave them a comfortable 2-0 lead going into the rest of the match. 

The Rams responded a couple minutes later with their own score, but UCO’s defense held the 2 to 1 lead through the rest of the second period and the entirety of the third period. The victory against Colorado State gave UCO its second win of the season. 

UCO men’s hockey head coach Justin-Cole Dubecky was more than satisfied with The Bronchos’ performance in the first game of the weekend. “We got pucks and players to the net and won 50/50 battles all over the ice. We played sound defensively and our goalie made the saves we needed him to make.”

Saturday’s game, however, would ultimately prove to be a disaster for Central. UCO started off with the upper hand, scoring in the first period by Sebastien Doucet, but would fail to score again until the third period. 

Colorado State, on the other hand, exploded on offense throughout the entirety of the match. The Ram’s responded to UCO’s goal with two of their own, giving them the 2-1 lead at the end of the first period. 

In the second period they scored three more goals while holding UCO scoreless which inflated Colorado State’s lead to 5 to 1. 

UCO eventually responded with their second and final score of the match during the onset of the third period, but their defense continued to struggle as The Rams scored two more goals to finish out the match with a score of 7-1. The blowout Saturday gave Central Oklahoma their eighth loss of the year.

When it came to his team’s performance on Saturday however, Dubecky put a heavy emphasis on playing the same way for both games of the series, rather than just one. “I feel the biggest thing we need to take into next series is playing for the entire weekend. I felt we took some minutes off here and there and CSU took advantage when we did. We cannot take any team lightly regardless of how the previous night went.”

Coming off an 11-19 record last season, UCO has faced similar struggles in their first ten games of the 2025-26 season. Yet, Dubecky remains confident that UCO’s best hockey is still ahead of them. “I have high expectations and I don’t believe we have been playing consistently at our full potential. I knew this season was a ‘rebuild’ coming in but we haven’t been good in any aspect of the game and it starts with the coaching.”

The Bronchos will get an opportunity to bounce back from their loss Saturday night as they will match up against the visiting University of Colorado Buffs in another two game series this Friday and Saturday. Both games will be played at 7 p.m. in the Arctic Edge Ice Arena in Edmond, Oklahoma.