UCO Hockey Swept by No. 2 UNLV in Weekend Series

The University of Central Oklahoma hockey team was outclassed and outmatched in their weekend series against No. 2 UNLV with back-to-back blowout losses at Arctic Edge Ice Arena in Edmond.

UCO showed early offensive promise in Friday’s opener, responding to UNLV’s opening goal with two consecutive scores from forward Cullen Hogan to take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission.

UNLV’s Jimmy Kelly opened the scoring at 8:59 of the first period. Hogan answered at 14:13, with assists from Joshua Bishop and Robby Rabroker, before scoring again at 16:15 on the power play. Draeden Bear and Carter Demelo assisted on the go-ahead goal.

The lead did not last.

UNLV scored four times in the second period to take control of the game. Easton Edwards tied the score just 1:10 into the period, followed by goals from Zach Boren, Luke Baker and Dillon Kuntz. Edwards added his second goal of the game early in the third period to complete the scoring.

The Rebels outshot the Bronchos 58-20, including a 27-4 advantage in the second period. UCO goaltender Hunter Farrer recorded 52 saves, while UNLV’s Liam Choquette stopped 18 of 20 shots.

UCO looked to rebound Saturday but again struggled to slow UNLV’s attack, surrendering the opening goal just 35 seconds into the game.

The Bronchos answered at 11:56 when Magnus Lindfors scored off assists from Maxim Lazo and Rens Tari. UNLV regained the lead late in the first period through Kuntz and added two more goals in the second period from Thomas Manzella III and Charles Masek.

Keagan Bankier cut the deficit to 4-2 at 17:40 of the second period, converting on the power play with assists from Jeffrey Rebmann and Daniel Tokariwski.

However, UNLV pulled away in the third. Deven Nagra scored at 3:21 before Edwards struck twice in seven seconds at 8:25 and 8:32, extending the Rebels’ advantage to five goals.

Hogan scored with eight seconds remaining to provide UCO’s final goal of the weekend. His late score marked his third goal across the two games, which would ultimately prove feckless.

The two losses extended UNLV’s unbeaten start to the season to eight games and gave the Rebels a 13-5 scoring advantage across the weekend.

The Bronchos improved their offensive production Saturday, recording 34 shots after managing just 20 in Friday’s opener. However, UNLV still held a 53-34 advantage in shots on goal.

UCO goaltender Kaden King made 46 saves on 53 shots, while UNLV’s Jimmy Mologousis stopped 31 of 34 attempts. The Bronchos finished 1-for-5 on the power play Saturday, while the Rebels did not convert on either of their two opportunities.

Across the weekend, UCO scored twice on eight power-play opportunities, while UNLV went scoreless on six chances with the man advantage.

Despite the losses, UCO found production from their captain Hogan, who scored three times, along with Lindfors and Bankier in Saturday’s matchup. The Bronchos also increased their shot total in the second game, matching UNLV with 16 shots apiece in the third period.

UCO will look to build on those offensive improvements as it continues its season.