Do you recall when we at 4 Star Sports mentioned that “Hogs Can Skate”?
As we continue our coverage of the Arkansas Razorbacks Hockey Club, this program has seen some great moments in a short time. With this, we saw one on Saturday evening that will be remembered forever in a rival contest.
The 200th Win For Keller Sims Vaults Razorback Hockey To Championship Round In SEC Showcase
The moment was monumental as Keller Sims secured his 200th win, 8-5 over Missouri, in Nashville in the SEC Showcase. With the win, the Razorbacks (15-6-0-1) moved on to the championship round of the event. In what has been an exciting weekend of hockey in Nashville, the conference has showcased the talent across eight teams that compete at the ACHA level.
After an exciting and dominant 9-3 win over Texas on Friday, Arkansas was slated to face its bitter rival, especially on the ice, in Missouri. The history between these programs has been physical, and the most recent contest did not disappoint. In pregame, we discussed how the win over Texas could provide a push for Arkansas to make a run in this event.
With the performance against Missouri, this club now looks to bring another championship trophy to bring back to Fayetteville. To do this, the club will need to take down a Texas A&M Aggies {20-5-0-1} team, a red-hot club that enters the game in first place in their division. Additionally, A&M took down the Georgia Hockey Club, 5-4 on Saturday, which has won thirteen consecutive games. Entering the championship contest, Texas A&M is on a seven-game winning streak.
The Aggies are led offensively by forward Konstantin Deshevyy, who leads the club with 29 goals on the season. In the pipes {goal}, the Aggies are anchored by a duo of talented stars. First is Mikhail Saratovtsev, who has allowed a team low of 19 goals on the season. In addition, Saratovtsev has a .919 save percentage. Along with Saratovtsev is Thomas Andreeff, who has allowed 28 goals on the season and has logged a team high 605 minutes in goal.
A point of emphasis for both clubs will be controlling the urge to enter the penalty box. Both clubs are regular visitors, as the Aggies’ average time on the penalty kill is 21/84, which equates to 75%. For Arkansas, which leads all Division 2 hockey teams in penalty minutes, this number jumps to 82%. In each of their wins to reach the championship game, both Arkansas and Texas A&M showed significant improvement in this area, and the wins further substantiate this.
The championship game will begin at 2:30 CT at the Ford Ice Center in Bellevue, Tennessee, and will be streamed on FloHockey. We will have more coverage on this final game and a weekend recap in the postgame.
