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For box scores of this past week's game against Robert Morris (IL), please click READ MORE
OU 3, ROBT MORRIS (IL) 1 The 5th-ranked University of Oklahoma® Hockey club, depleted by injury, gutted out a tough 3-1 victory over No. 17 Robert Morris (IL) on Friday night in Oklahoma City. There was no scoring in the first period. With the shots even at 5-5 and each team being on the power play twice in the opening stanza, it appeared as if both teams were well on their way to limping to a 0-0 draw. However, the Sooners' offensive pressure woke up in the second period as forward Adrian Borchgrevink (Kenai, AK) scored at 1:36 of the second to put the Sooners up 1-0. Oklahoma outshot the Eagles 13-2 in the middle period and turned the momentum of the game in their favor with the added offensive focus. In the third period, forward Kyle Allan (Flagstaff, AZ) scored on a scrum in front of the RMC net at the 10:41 mark to give OU a 2-0 lead. Forward Kenny Deines (Highland Village, TX) surprised the RMC goalie and got the Sooners' bench pumped up when he let loose a rising wrister from the left circle into the top corner of the RMC net at 11:50 of the third to increase the OU lead to three goals. RMC avoided the goose egg with a goal less than five minutes from the final buzzer. The Eagles almost made things interesting as the Sooners found themselves on the wrong side of a 5-on-3 for 1:22 in the waning minutes of the game. It was all for naught though as the OU defense held true and preserved the 3-1 victory for the Sooners.
Sooners goaltender Chad Helgason (Woodbury, MN) stopped 15 of 16 shots while RMC's Dan Venet stopped 25 of 28 shots from OU. Oklahoma was 0 for 5 on the power play while RMC was 0 for 6 with the man advantage. Oklahoma's record improves to 16-4-2 while Robert Morris drops to 10-12-1. Oklahoma hosts Robert Morris College on Saturday at 6:30 P.M. in Oklahoma City.
Robert Morris (IL) 0 - 0 - 1 -- 1 Oklahoma 0 - 1 - 2 -- 3
FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: None. Penalties: RMC, Lesko (interference), 4:55; OU, Kenney (interference), 6:56; RMC, Mahoney (unsportsmanlike conduct), 9:30; OU, McCauley (unsportsmanlike conduct), 9:30; RMC, Allison (boarding), 10:18; OU, Brewer (tripping), 13:30. SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, OU, Borchgrevink (Siira, Brewer), 1:36. Penalties: OU, Hallberg (interference), 4:01; RMC, Quinn (tripping), 12:27; RMC, Olson (roughing), 19:05; OU, McCauley (roughing, unsportsmanlike conduct), 19:05. THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 2, OU, Allan (McCauley, Smith), 10:41; 3, OU, Deines (Hayden), 11:50; 4, RMC, Ozollapa (Lee, Peter), 15:37. Penalties: RMC, Reeves (cross-checking), 3:31; RMC, Kostel (roughing), 13:46; OU, McCauley (holding), 14:08; OU, Siira (elbowing), 17:03; OU, Curtiss (hooking), 17:32. Shots on goal:
Robert Morris (IL) 5 2 9 - 16 Oklahoma 5 13 10 - 28
Goalies: OU, Helgason (16 shots, 15 saves); RMC, Venet (28, 25). Referee: Watkins. Linesmen: Wedlake, Excel.
OU 2, ROBT MORRIS (IL) 1 The 5th-ranked University of Oklahoma® Hockey club completed the sweep of No. 17 Robert Morris (IL) with a gritty 2-1 win over the Eagles on Saturday night in Oklahoma City. The Sooners started the game with 14 skaters and two goalies, five players less than the 21 allowed on the game roster. By the end of the night, the Sooners would be down two more skaters but those left on the Sooners bench earned a tremendous amount of respect from fans and teammates alike. RMC got on the scoreboard first with a power play goal just over four minutes into the game to take a quick 1-0 lead. However, it was the only goal RMC would score on the evening. Sooner defenseman Greg Smith (Irvine, CA) left the game during the first period with an undisclosed injury to further dilute the OU blueline, already skating with just five d-men. In the second period, the Oklahoma power play finally got back on track when forward Adrian Borchgrevink (Kenai, AK) tied the game at 5:09 with the man advantage. Borchgrevink would strike again six minutes later, again on the power play, to give the Sooners a tenuous 2-1 lead in the game. Late in the second, OU forward Kyle Allan (Flagstaff, AZ) was assessed a major penalty and ejected from the game, putting the Sooners' penalty kill to work for the last five minutes of the period. Sooners goaltender Matt Pombo (Allen, TX) and the Sooners D kept RMC off the scoreboard for the remainder of the game to secure the 2-1 win and send the Sooners into the holiday break with a two-game sweep of a Top 20 team.
Pombo stopped 21 of 22 shots while RMC's Dan Venet stopped 38 of 40 shots from OU. Oklahoma was 2 for 9 on the power play while RMC was 1 for 4 with the man advantage. Oklahoma completes the Fall 2008 portion of the regular season with a 17-4-2 record and ends the gauntlet run of 11 straight games against Top 20 opponents with a respectable 6-3-2 record. With the loss, Robert Morris' record drops to 10-13-1.
Oklahoma returns to action on January 9th when they host No. 2 Lindenwood at the Blazers Ice Centre in Oklahoma City.
Robert Morris (IL) 1 - 0 - 0 -- 1 Oklahoma 0 - 2 - 0 -- 2
FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, RMC, Johnson (Mahoney, Ozollapa), 4:04 (pp). Penalties: OU, Curtiss (hooking), :38; OU, McCauley (hooking), 2:42; OU, Borchgrevink (slashing), 7:26; RMC, Allison (tripping), 10:09; RMC, Lesko (hooking), 16:38; RMC, Lane (17:21); RMC, Lesko (tripping), 19:55. SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 2, OU, Borchgrevink (Hallberg), 5:09 (pp); 3, OU, Borchgrevink (Brewer, Hallberg), 11:09 (pp). Penalties: RMC, Lesko (slashing), 3:58; RMC, Mahoney (slashing), 10:03; OU, Allan (cross-checking major, game misconduct), 15:16. THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: None. Penalties: RMC, Kostel (hooking), 4:46; RMC, Carlsten (boarding), 5:25; RMC, Mahoney (hooking), 14:35. Shots on goal:
Robert Morris (IL) 7 7 8 - 22 Oklahoma 14 16 10 - 40
Goalies: OU, Pombo (22 shots, 21 saves); RMC, Venet (40, 38). Referee: Mariconda. Linesmen: Wedlake, Excel.
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