On December 2 & 3, the Division I University of Arkansas Men’s Hockey team will travel to Springfield, Missouri, to renew their rivalry with the Missouri State Ice Bears. The teams split a pair of games during the 15-16 season beginning with December 4 & 5, 2015, games in Springfield, where the Hogs earned a 3-1 victory on night one but dropped a heart-breaker in overtime 2-1 to close the series. Back in Springdale in February of 2016, the Hogs again took game one, this time by a larger margin–8-4–but again missed the opportunity to pick up the sweep by dropping game two in a shootout, 5-4.
The Division I Hogs (6-15-2) will enter the series playing some of their best hockey all season. Arkansas has gone 3-1-1 in their last five and, most recently, took down Alabama in a shootout at home in front of a capacity crowd (pictured above). For its part, Missouri State (11-15-0) will enter the series having split a pair of games against Alabama. After defeating the Frozen Tide by a narrow 6-5 margin on Friday, November 18, the Bears dropped game two 8-5. Just one weekend earlier, the Bears swept #5 Iowa State by 3-2 and 4-3 scores, respectively. The puck drops at 7:00 pm CST on both Friday and Saturday. Ticket information is here and broadcast information is here.
Back in Springdale, the Division III Hogs (10-13-0) will play host to Missouri State’s Division III team (14-4-2) on December 2 & 3. Arkansas is fresh from its appearance at the Clash of the Corn in Dordt, Iowa, where the team went 1-2 in three games. After losing to Aurora 6-3 in game one, the Razorbacks rebounded to knock off Marquette 7-3, but then dropped its final contest 8-1 to Wisconsin-Platteville. For its part, Missouri State’s hot start has cooled somewhat; the DIII Ice Bears have gone 1-3 in their last four. Most recently, the Bears split a pair of games against Wisconsin-Platteville.
The puck drops at 8:00 pm CST at the Jones Center on both Friday and Saturday nights. Ticket information is here and radio broadcast information is here.
