by Zien Jivani / The Daily

The No. 4 Sooner hockey club will face their toughest hurdle of the season as they open a triple-header at the Blazer’s Ice Center against two of ACHA Division I top-five teams.

OU (24-3-1) hosts No. 5 Liberty University (18-7-1) Friday and Saturday, then conclude the weekend with No. 3 Lindenwood University (22-5-1) Sunday afternoon. The skating Sooners are 3-2-1 combined against the two squads this season.

The Sooners have been awaiting this weekend for some time, senior defenseman Mark Tylka said.

“We have that first weekend of February circled,” the captain said.

Liberty will look for revenge as they make their first visit to the Sooner State. The Sooners stole one game and took the Flames to overtime in their earlier rendezvous in Virginia.

Sunday brings the fifth and final installment of the OU, Lindenwood clash for the season. Both teams have split matches at each other’s rinks in very physical match-ups, including a six-on-six line brawl in their second game. In their last contest, Lindenwood defeated OU in an 8-1 rout.

OU returns to the ice after a week off from another three game set where they twice beat Colorado 5-2 and 10-1, but lost to Colorado State 5-7.

Polls have undefeated Illinois ranked No. 1 and Penn State No. 2, followed by Lindenwood, Oklahoma and Liberty, respectively. The top 16 teams are invited to the ACHA national tournament starting March 1.