Author: Razorback Hockey

Multiple Hogs Honored with All-American and All-Conference Honors

Several Razorbacks were honored with All-American and All-Conference awards at the conclusion of the 2021-22 season. At both the conference and ACHA level; All-American, All-Division, MVP, and COTY awards are determined by a coaches vote at the conclusion of the season.

Senior Defensemen and Assistant Captain, Cameron McAtee, was named a First Team All-American by the ACHA and received All-MACHA South honors. McAtee recorded 61 points on 27 goals and 34 assists in the regular season. He added 5 points in 4 games in the National Tournament.

Senior Forward and Team Captain, Zach Wilson, received All-MACHA South Honors. Wilson recorded 58 points on 20 goals and 38 assists during the regular season. He recorded 2 points in 4 games at the National Tournament.

Senior Forward and Assistant Captain, Griffin Sugasawara, was named a Second Team All-American by the ACHA. Sugasawara recorded 58 points on 28 goals and 30 assists in the regular season. He recorded 4 goals in 4 games at the National Tournament.

Senior Goalie, Jozef Dusenka, was named a Second Team All-American by the ACHA. He obtained a 12-0-1 record with a 1.73 goals against average and a .924 save percentage during the regular season. He started all four games for the Hogs at the National Tournament.

Head Coach, Keller Sims, was named the MACHA South Coach of the Year and the ACHA Coach of the Year. Arkansas finished with an overall record of 29-3-2. The Razorbacks qualified for their fourth National Tournament in Coach Sims fifth year behind the bench.

The University of Arkansas Men’s Hockey team plays in the Mid-America Collegiate Hockey Association. The 2021-22 season will be the team’s fifteenth season as a member of the ACHA competing in Division III. The team’s schedule can be viewed here. All home games are played at The Jones Center for Families in Springdale, AR.

Arkansas Season Ends in National Semi-Final

The Razorback’s season came to a conclusion following an overtime loss to eventual National Champion, Hope College, in the National Semifinals. The game would see the Hogs jump out to a 2-0 lead early. The two teams traded momentum back and forth throughout the game, but Hope was eventually able to claw their way back and tie the game. Arkansas controlled the pace of the overtime and out-chanced The Dutchmen early. Unfortunately, the tightly contested affair came to an end midway through the first overtime frame when Hope netted the game winner on the power play.

Prior to the semifinals, Arkansas won their round robin pool on the backs of overtime victories over The University of Miami (Ohio) and Notre Dame. Arkansas began their National Tournament with a nail bitter against Miami (OH). In a physical and tightly attested affair, the hogs would claim the crucial extra point with a goal from senior defensemen Kevin LaPlante with just under a minute remaining.

Arkansas would stumble in the second game against The University of Nebraska. The Cornhuskers were back stopped by an incredible goaltending performance and they were able to withstand the Razorbacks assault despite being outshot 3 to 1.

In the final game of pool play the Razorbacks (1-1) found themselves tied late with Notre Dame (2-0), who would advance with a win or a tie. With just over a minute remaining in the overtime period, the Hogs pulled their goalie to add the extra attacker, and quickly afterwards junior Michael Ellis netted the game winner to send Arkansas through to the semi’s with the tie breaker over Notre Dame.

This National Tournament marked the fourth appearance in the past five seasons, and seventh overall in program history. After a National Runner Up finish in 2020-21, the Hogs advanced to the Frozen Four for the second year in a row. Despite falling short of their goal of winning their first national championship, the Razorbacks claimed plenty of hardware during the 2021-22 season.

In their first season of competition in their new conference (The MACHA), the Hogs would claim the MACHA South Division Title, the MACHA Regular Season Championship, and the MACHA Conference Tournament Championship. After years of strong competition and a tense on-ice rivalry, Missouri State and Arkansas put a name to their Rivalry, The Battle of the Ozarks. The Hogs would win the inaugural Battle of the Ozarks Trophy on the backs of an 2-1-1 record against Missouri State in the regular season. Arkansas also brought home the Route 66 Showcase Championship.

Arkansas will look to regroup over the offseason and look forward to another successful campaign in 2022-23. Stay tuned to our social media channels for all offseason updates!

The University of Arkansas Men’s Hockey team plays in the Mid-America Collegiate Hockey Association. The 2021-22 season will be the team’s fifteenth season as a member of the ACHA competing in Division III. The team’s schedule can be viewed here. All home games are played at The Jones Center for Families in Springdale, AR.

Arkansas wins first MACHA Championship, head to National Tournament as #4 seed.

Your Razorbacks wrapped up the 2021-22 regular season by winning their first MACHA championship with a 5-2 win over Missouri State in the tournament final. Winners of six SECHC titles, this was the first season for Arkansas as members of the Mid-American Collegiate Hockey Association (MACHA) due to cancelation of the conference regular season and conference tournament in 2020-21. Arkansas secured the top seed in the tournament by going undefeated in South Division play and securing the highest national ranking (#3) of all MACHA tournament teams.

The Hogs opened the weekend with a 5-0 victory over (#16) Washington University of St. Louis. Senior goalie Jozef Dusenka recorded the shutout as the Hogs dominated the full 60 minutes to start the tournament on the right foot. Next, the Hogs would draw (#6) University of New Mexico. Again, the Hogs dictated the pace of play on their way to a 5-1 victory. In the championship game, Arkansas and (#21) Missouri State traded goals early before the hogs ultimately pulled ahead, securing a 5-2 victory and an auto-bid to the National Tournament. Dusenka was named the MVP of the tournament. He allowed 3 goals in 3 wins, with 1 shutout.

This past week your Arkansas Razorbacks found out their opening round opponents following the release of the final ACHA rankings. The Hogs earned the #4 seed in the country and will serve as the top seed in their pool. The Razorbacks will face off against #5 Notre Dame, #12 Nebraska, and #13 Miami of Ohio. Arkansas swept Nebraska in two games at home earlier this season and won their lone game with Miami (OH) 5-1 in the Route 66 Classic.

The first round of the ACHA National Tournament consists of the top 16 teams in the country divided into 4 pools of 4 teams. Each team will play the other members of their pool, with the winner of each advancing to the semifinals. Winners of each semifinal game will advance to the deciding championship game. Arkansas will look to improve on their best finish in program history last season, where they finished 2nd, losing to Hope College in the National Championship game.

All games will be held at Centene Community Ice Center in St. Louis, MO. All games will also be broadcast on Hockey TV, which unfortunately requires a paid subscription. Come out and support your Razorbacks and let’s build a home ice advantage in St. Louis!

National Tournament Schedule

Thursday 3/10 5:45 PM vs #13 Miami(OH) 

Friday 3/11 5:15 PM vs #12 Nebraska 

Saturday 3/12 8:45 PM vs #5 Notre Dame 

Monday 3/14- Semifinal 2:15 PM*

Tuesday 3/15- Championship 3:00 PM*

*if advance

Rink location: 750 Casino Center Dr, Maryland Heights, MO 63043

Nationals ticket information can be found HERE

Nationals broadcast information can be found HERE

The University of Arkansas Men’s Hockey team plays in the Mid-America Collegiate Hockey Association. The 2021-22 season will be the team’s fifteenth season as a member of the ACHA competing in Division III. The team’s schedule can be viewed here. All home games are played at The Jones Center for Families in Springdale, AR.

#4 Razorbacks Close Out Fall Semester with Sweep of Missouri

Photo credits to @_baumology_

The #4 ranked Arkansas Razorbacks made the trip up to Missouri this past weekend, to take on division-rivals Missouri Tigers. Arkansas opened the scoring with a power play goal from assistant captain Jake Sharrer. Zach Wilson would double the Hog lead with 30 seconds remaining in the 1st period, finishing off a perfect feed from Brad Estrada. Both Griffin Sugasawara and Jacob Heuerman got in on the scoring in the first five minutes of the 2nd period, giving Arkansas the 4-0 lead. Missouri would answer shortly after, cutting into the lead with a goal of their own. Arkansas would run away with the game thanks to a flurry of goals from Estrada, Cameron McAtee, and Kyle Crews. Mizzou scored two goals early in the 3rd period, followed by three-straight goals from McAtee. Arkansas skated to a 10-4 win and goalie Jozef Dusenka took home the win.

Saturday’s game saw Missouri come out with the only goal of a hard-fought 1st period. Assistant captain Zach Wilson got Arkansas on the board in the 2nd period, followed by Cameron McAtee and Kyle Crews goals. Wilson would add another 15 seconds into the 3rd period, giving Arkansas the 4-1 lead early in the final frame. Mizzou capitalized on special teams midway through the 3rd period, tying the game at 4. However, the Hogs turned it on in the final 11 minutes, scoring 4 goals to finish off the sweep of rival Missouri. McAtee, Griffin Sugasawara, Nick Valentini, and Kyle Patterson all scored 3rd period goals. Grady Reis came away with the win in net.

Arkansas is off for the holiday break, but will return January 21st and 22nd at home against Dallas Baptist University. Arkansas then heads just up the road to Missouri State the following weekend, before finishing off the regular season with senior weekend against Kansas on February 4th and 5th. The MACHA tournament will take place February 11th-13th, and the ACHA National Tournament will be held March 10th-15th. Both tournaments will be hosted by Maryville University at the Maryville University Hockey Center in Chesterfield, MO.

The University of Arkansas Men’s Hockey team plays in the Mid-America Collegiate Hockey Association. The 2021-22 season will be the team’s fifteenth season as a member of the ACHA competing in Division III. The team’s schedule can be viewed here. All home games are played at The Jones Center for Families in Springdale, AR.

#8 Arkansas enters Thanksgiving break at 17-2

Your Razorbacks finished the month of November with an 8-0 record following their run at the Route 66 Showcase, sweeps of MACHA rivals Nebraska and Kansas, and a season sweep of division opponent North Texas this past Sunday. These performances helped the Hogs jump 12 spots to #8 in the ACHA national rankings in the most recent release on November 19th.

The Hogs began the month of November in Springfield, MO looking to defend their crown as reining 2019 Route 66 Champions. The showcase was not held in 2020 due to COVID-19. The Hogs started the showcase with their first ever meeting against Butler University. Following a 0-0 draw in the first period, the floodgates would open, seeing Arkansas net seven on their way to a 7-1 victory.

Next was a match up with unbeaten #11 University of New Mexico. Arkansas was able to jump out to an early lead, and withstand some third period penalty trouble to outlast New Mexico 3-2 in a physical and tightly contested game. Sundays final game saw both remaining undefeated teams in the tournament square off to decide who would leave with championship trophy. Arkansas utilized a fast start to put #12 Miami (OH) on their heels early, netting 4 goals in the first period. Arkansas rarely looked out of control throughout, winning 5-1, and successfully defending their title as tournament champions.

Arkansas would return home with the goal of starting another home winning streak after their near three year home unbeaten streak was snapped by Missouri State in their final game of October. The weekend would mark a showdown of MACHA division leaders as the South leading Razorbacks faced off against the North leading Nebraska Cornhuskers. Arkansas picked up where they left off in Missouri, with a physical and hard fought, 4-1 win on Friday night. The Razorbacks controlled the pace of the game, keeping play in the Cornhusker end, ultimately outshooting the opposition 43-11.

The Saturday match up between both teams would be a much more back and forth affair. After trading goals in the first period (2-2), second period (3-3), and third period (4-4), Senior Captain Zach Wilson found the back of the net on the power-play with just 14 seconds remaining in the game to give the Hogs the 5-4 victory and weekend sweep of Nebraska.

This past weekend Arkansas traveled to Independence, MO to face off with long time rival University of Kansas. While Arkansas has owned the series of late, as always these games did not disappoint, as teams traded goals early and often throughout the weekend. Arkansas would secure a 6-3 win on Friday night and a 9-6 win on Saturday afternoon to complete the sweep.

Arkansas returned home for a Sunday afternoon matinee match up with division foe North Texas, and a focus on improving their defensive play after allowing 9 goals to Kansas on the weekend. Not only did the Hogs improve their defensive play, their offense exploded for 19 goals in the game, winning 19-1 to complete the season sweep of North Texas.

Following the Thanksgiving break, Arkansas will return for their final games of the semester, traveling to South Division rival Mizzou on December 3rd and 4th. This will mark the first meetings between the two programs as MACHA opponents since Arkansas’ move from the SECHC last season. Arkansas is currently 4-0 in South Division play while Missouri enters the weekend at 3-3 in division games. The winner of each of the four divisions in MACHA play will earn a spot in the conference tournament held in St. Louis, MO in February.

Game location @ University of Missouri: 711 Kansas St, Jefferson City, MO 65109

Friday Dec. 3rd: 7:15 pm puck drop

Saturday Dec 4th: 6:00 pm puck drop

Arkansas Heads Into Bye at 8-1 Following Sweep of Iowa State

Following a 3-0 weekend in Dallas, and a home sweep of Iowa State, the Ice Hogs enter their first weekend off of the season 8-1 overall.

Arkansas took care of business in their first South Divison games of the season, taking two games from Dallas Baptist and one from North Texas during a three game weekend in Texas.

Friday saw the hogs battle back from an early one goal deficit to win the weekend opener 6-2 against DBU. Sophomore Sam Haynes recorded the win in net, stopping 20 of 22 shots. Six different Razorbacks recorded goals (Heuerman, Wilson, Sugasawara, Sharrer, LaPlante, and Patterson).

The Razorbacks found themselves trailing again early Saturday after a slow start, before netting five unanswered to find the win column with a 5-2 victory in the series finale against DBU. Freshman Grady Reis earned the win in net, also stopping 20 of 22 shots. Junior Brad Estrada found the back of the net twice, with Wilson, Romero, and Elliott all joining him in the score column.

Sunday was a much more one sided match up between the Razorbacks and Mean Green of UNT. The Hogs outshot their opponent 85-19 on their way to a 9-1 win in their final game of the weekend. Freshmen goaltender Noah Goodwin earned his first win in his first career start, stopping 18 of 19 shots, earning the Hog Hat honors for hardest working player in the game.

This past weekend your Razorbacks returned to the friendly confines of The Jones Center for a home series against Iowa State. On Friday, junior Michael Ellis drew first blood, scoring with 3:11 remaining in the first frame. The hogs would build on their lead in the second with goals from senior Cameron McAtee and sophomore Kyle Crews. The hogs would net one more goal when Freshman Jacob Heuerman found the net in a penalty filled third period.

Special teams shined for the Razorbacks who killed off 8 penalties, including two 5 on 3 opportunities, on their way to a 4-0 victory. Senior Assistant Captain Cameron McAtee factored into all four goals with one goal and three assists. Senior Jozef Dusenka earned the shutout in his first home start of the season.

Saturday saw the Hogs dominate in a physical affair, filling the Iowa State net with three goals in the first period (Valentini, Wilson, Estrada). Senior Jacob Sharrer would score the lone goal of the second for the hogs, before another three goal explosion in the final frame (Wilson x2, Yaseen). Senior Captain Zach Wilson recorded a hat trick on the night. Sophomore goalie Sam Haynes earned the win, stopping 23 of 25 shots on the night.

Arkansas is off this weekend before a home series against historic rival Missouri State.

Arkansas Travels to Dallas, Begins MACHA Play

Arkansas Travels to Dallas, Begins MACHA Play

This weekend Arkansas travels to Dallas to begin MACHA South Division play with a two game set against Dallas Baptist University, followed by a Sunday matinee game with The University of North Texas. This will mark the first weekend of conference play for the Hogs as members of the Mid-American Collegiate Hockey Association (MACHA) since leaving the SEC in 2020. This season also marks the first season in the MACHA for both DBU and UNT following their move from Division II before the shortened 2020-21 season.

Dallas Baptist is coming off an appearance in the National Tournament last season. This year DBU is 1-3 following a weekend sweep at the hands of New Mexico and split with fellow South Division member Mizzou. The hogs took all 6 games from DBU last year, including their match up in pool play of the National Tournament.

UNT is 1-1 on the season following a win and overtime loss against DII Texas State at home last weekend. The Mean Green did not participate in the 2020-21 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Arkansas and UNT have not met since the 2018-19 season, where the Hogs swept their home two game series by a combined score of 28-2.

This marks an important weekend for the Razorbacks, who enter the weekend 3-1, as the winner of the South Division will receive and auto-bid to the MACHA Conference Championship in St. Louis. The Hogs could use your support in Dallas this weekend as they look to continue with footballs trend of owning the state of Texas!

Game times and locations:

Friday 10/1: 8:45pm puck drop- Valley Ranch Stars Center

Saturday 10/2: 7:30pm puck drop- Valley Ranch Stars Center

Sunday 10/3: 12:30pm puck drop- Euless Stars Center

Arkansas and Oklahoma Split Weekend Series in OKC

This past weekend your Hogs traveled to Oklahoma City for their first road trip of the season for a two game set against DI University of Oklahoma. Arkansas entered the game 2-0 following last weekends sweep of ETBU at home. The series would be Oklahoma’s first games and home opening weekend.

The hogs pushed the pace of play from the opening drop of the puck on Friday night. Senior Griffin Sugasawara netted the opening goal on the power play at 10:55 in the first period on assists from defensemen Cameron McAtee and Kevin LaPlante. The Sooners would answer with a shorthanded goal from Marshall Rushing with 1:47 remaining in the frame, and the first period would end in a 1-1 tie.

The Hogs wasted no time regaining the lead, when Senior Nick Valentini beat the Oklahoma net-minder with a top shelf bullet coming down the left side to put Arkansas ahead 2-1 with 17:01 remaining in the second. Sugasawara inked his name on the score sheet again with 6:30 remaining in the second period. Following passes from Pavel Salter and Brad Estrada, Sugasawara walked the puck into the low slot before making a nifty move to leave the Oklahoma goaltender flailing and neatly tucked the puck into the net.

The Razorbacks never looked tired in the third, keeping up their physical play and speed to keep the game out of reach. Junior Michael Ellis netted the Hogs fourth goal, and second powerplay goal, with 5:17 left in the third to ice the game. Arkansas looked good on the power play all night, and following good heads up passing from McAtee and Zach Wilson, Ellis was able to send a low shot past a screen in front for the final goal of the game.

Senior Jozef Dusenka made his first start of the season, making several spectacular saves; on the way to recording his first win of the season. Arkansas outshot Oklahoma 31-20 in the game.

Despite a strong start and good pace to the game, Arkansas found itself in penalty trouble early on Saturday night. Oklahoma opened the scoring 4 minutes into the game following a power-play goal by Tristan Glass. The rest of the first period was a back and forth affair, with both teams trading scoring chances and physical play.

The second period was tightly contested by both teams. The teams ran into penalty trouble during the second frame with seven infractions called collectively. Oklahoma struck again on the powerplay with 2:45 left in the period on a goal by Marshall Rushing. Arkansas quickly answered with a powerplay goal of their own a little over a minute later with a goal scored on a blast by senior defensemen Cameron McAtee, assisted by Zach Wilson.

Keeping with the theme, both teams fought for every inch of ice in the third period, with the Hogs keeping up the pressure searching for the equalizing goal. Oklahoma broke through with 3:05 left in the period on an odd-man rush, with a shot from Oklahoma’s Trevor Finch barely squeaking through. Oklahoma would tally an empty netter to complete the scoring on the weekend, and the game would end with a final of 4-1.

Freshman Grady Reis played well in his second start of the season, keeping Arkansas in the game with several tremendous saves throughout. Arkansas outshot Oklahoma again 31-28.

Hogs Sweep Opening Series Against ETBU

The Razorbacks start the 21-22 campaign on the right foot, beating ETBU by a combined score of 32-0 in their home opening series this past weekend. The two wins give Arkansas 24 straight home victories, dating back to the 18-19 season.

Friday saw eleven different Razorbacks score (Borlace-2, Deskeere-2, Ellis-2, McAtee-2, Sharrer-2, Crews, Heuerman, Hirschy, LaPlante, Sugasawara, Valentini) in front of a near sell out crowd at The Jones Center. Freshman Truman Hirschy and Jacob Heuerman both recorded their first collegiate goals. Senior Jacob Sharrer tallied his first and second goals of the season after being blanked throughout the 20-21 season, and was the first to be awarded the “Hog Head” for the games biggest impact player. Starting goaltender, sophomore Sam Haynes, records his first collegiate shutout on 16 saves. The Razorbacks dominated the pace of play for the majority of the game, and outshot ETBU 60-16.

The Hogs picked up right where they left off on Friday, matching Saturdays total on the scoreboard at 16-0. Keeping with the similarities, eleven different Razorbacks found the back of the net Saturday (Sugasawara-3, Elliott-2, Estrada-2, Moder-2, Heuerman, Lotz, McAtee, Salter, Sharrer, Valentini, Wilson). Freshman Ethan Moder and Ian Lotz both recorded their first collegiate goals. Freshman starting goaltender Grady Reis recorded his first collegiate shutout in his first career start. Sharrer passed the “Hog Head” to freshman Ian Lotz as the games biggest impact player due to his high energy and disruptiveness in his first Arkansas Razorback game.

This upcoming weekend, your hogs travel to Oklahoma City for a tough test against Div. I University of Oklahoma. These two teams have not met since the 2018-19 season, where Div. I OU swept Div. I Arkansas in three games by a combined score of 9-3. Overall the Sooners hold a strong edge in the matchup between the two programs, with a 16-2 record against the Razorbacks. On Friday, the Hogs will look to improve to 3-0, a feat they have accomplished every year under Head Coach Keller Sims. The Hogs could use the support of all Arkansas fans in the OKC area this weekend! Game times are below.

Friday: 10$ admission. 8:00 PM Puck Drop, Blazers Ice Centre, OKC, OK

Saturday: 10$ admission.5:00 PM Puck Drop, Blazers Ice Centre, OKC, OK

Ian Lotz Commits to Arkansas

The Razorback Hockey team is excited to announce that C-Ian Lotz will be attending the University of Arkansas this fall. Lotz, a 5’10”, 170lbs. center comes to Arkansas from the McKinney North Stars 18U team in McKinney, TX.

Lotz played for the McKinney North Stars organization, winning three Tier II Texas State Championships. In addition, Lotz won 2 high school state championships with Frisco High School while playing with current Razorback Michael Ellis. Lotz also cites his first state championship with Frisco as his favorite hockey memory because of how close their group was. Lotz fell in love with the speed and intensity of hockey while watching the Dallas Stars growing up and most tries to resemble his game after Nathan MacKinnon.

Lotz plans to study Supply Chain Management at Arkansas. When asked why he chose Arkansas, Ian said, “I saw it as a place I could see myself living and going to school and felt like a place I would belong.”

The University of Arkansas Men’s Hockey team plays in the Mid-America Collegiate Hockey Association. The 2021-22 season will be the team’s fifteenth season as a member of the ACHA competing in Division III. The team’s schedule can be viewed here. All home games are played at The Jones Center for Families in Springdale, AR.