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No. 6 Oklahoma sweeps No. 10 Liberty |
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For box scores of this past week's games against Liberty, please click READ MORE
OU 5, LIBERTY 4 (OT)
The 6th-ranked University of Oklahoma® Hockey club picked itself up off the mat and scored a stunning overtime 5-4 win over No. 10 Liberty on Friday evening at the Blazers Ice Centre. The Sooners came out listless and Liberty jumped on OU early, scoring just under two minutes into the game and again with just under two minutes to go in the first period to take a 2-0 lead. The Sooners played better but not by much in the second period, holding Liberty scoreless to keep the Flames within two. In the third, Liberty scored another quick goal to take a 3-1 lead but OU defenseman Blake Johnson (Oklahoma City, OK) woke the Sooners from their slumber with a goal at the 1:15 mark of the period to make it a 3-1 game. Liberty scored again near the eight minute mark to increase the lead to 4-1 over OU but the fun was just beginning. Forward Blake Martin (Anchorage, AK) scored at 11:02 to make it a 4-2 game and linemate Justin King (DeWitt, MI) carved up the Liberty defense with a gorgeous goal at 12:36 to get the Sooners to within one at 4-3. Oklahoma kept pounding the Liberty netminder with vulcanized rubber and, after having pulled the goalie for an extra attacker with less than thirty seconds to go in the game, forward Jesse Bryant (Anchorage, AK) tied the game at 4-4 with just 17 ticks of the clock left in regulation. In the ensuing five-minute, four-on-four overtime period, the Sooners kept up the pressure on the Flames until Martin hit pay dirt with his second goal of the evening at 3:27 of overtime to cap off the improbable comeback and win the game for OU by a score of 5-4.
Sooners goaltender Chad Helgason (Woodbury, MN) stopped 18 of 22 Liberty shots tonight. Flames goaltender Colin Way stopped 29 of 34 shots from OU. Oklahoma was shut out on the power play, going 0 for 2, while Liberty was an efficient 2 for 4 with the man advantage. With the stunning come-from-behind win, Oklahoma's record improves to 24-7-2 while Liberty now has a record of 22-10-4. Oklahoma hosts Liberty on Saturday evening at the Blazers Ice Centre in the last OU Hockey home game of the season. Eight OU Hockey seniors will be honored during the first intermission on Saturday night's game.
Liberty 2 - 0 - 2 - 0 -- 4 Oklahoma 0 - 0 - 4 - 1 -- 5
SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: None. Penalties: LIB, Lane (cross-checking), 14:00; OU, Kenney (holding the stick), 18:36; OU, Johnson (tripping), 19:48. THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 3, LIB, Z. Bauman (unassisted), :37 (pp); 4, OU, Johnson (Martin, King), 1:15; 5, LIB, Z. Bauman (Semenyna, Dodgson), 8:04 (pp); 6, OU, Martin (King, Miller), 11:02; 7, OU, King (Bryant, Johnson), 12:36; 8, OU, Bryant (Martin, King), 19:43. Penalties: OU, Miller (tripping), 7:32; LIB, Z. Bauman (tripping), 14:37. OVERTIME -- Scoring: 9, OU, Martin (Bryant), 3:27. Penalties: OU, King (cross-checking major, game disqualification), 3:27; LIB, Z. Bauman (roughing, roughing), 3:27. Shots on goal:
Goalies: OU, Helgason (22 shots, 18 saves); LIB, Way (34, 29). Referee: Mariconda. Linesmen: Mercer, LaForce.
OKLAHOMA 6, LIBERTY 3
Under the watchful eye of Oklahoma football quarterback Sam Bradford, the 6th-ranked University of Oklahoma® Hockey club scored three goals in the third period to break open a tight game and complete the weekend sweep of No. 10 Liberty with a 6-3 win on Saturday evening at the Blazers Ice Centre. Bradford, the Heisman Trophy winner, dropped the puck during the ceremonial faceoff to start the game and offered the Sooners some sage advice in the locker room. Bradford's words had great effect as Oklahoma struck first when forward Kyle Allan (Flagstaff, AZ) scored on the power play at 9:04 of the opening period to take a 1-0 lead. With the goal, Allan set the record for goals scored in a single season with 29, breaking the old record of 28 goals held by Allan himself (2007-2008) and fellow forward Adrian Borchgrevink (Kenai, AK, 2006-2007). Liberty evened the game at 1 with a goal towards the end of the first stanza. In the second, Liberty scored while short-handed to take a 2-1 lead but just over a minute later forward Chris Nicolaou (Dallas, TX) scored on the power play to tie the game at 2-2. Forward Blake Martin (Anchorage, AK) put the Sooners up 3-2 with a wicked shot from the left side circle with 4:26 left to go in the second period. Just when it looked as if OU might take a lead to the dressing room at the intermission, Liberty scored on the power play with just under a minute to go to tie the game 3-3 with 20 minutes of regulation left to play. Forward Jesse Bryant (Anchorage, AK) scored the game winner with a laser shot from the high slot at 4:25 of the third to put OU up 4-3. Forward Owen Brewer (Kenai, AK) picked up a rebound and flipped the puck over the Liberty goalie's pads at 12:13 to make it a 5-3 game. Martin salted the game away with an empty-netter at 17:58 of the period to make the final score 6-3 in favor of the Sooners.
Sooners goaltender Chad Helgason (Woodbury, MN) stopped 23 of 26 Liberty shots tonight. Flames goaltender Colin Way stopped 27 of 32 shots from OU. Oklahoma was 2 for 5 on the power play while Liberty was 1 for 5 with the man advantage. At the first intermission, OU Hockey honored eight Sooners seniors -- Forwards Allan, Brewer, Borchgrevink, Doug Gebbie (Frisco, TX), Ryan Kenney (Scottsdale, AZ) and Wil Petty (Arlington, TX) and defensemen Greg Smith (Irvine, CA) and Mark Tylka (Wisconsin Dells, WI) -- as well as Blazers Ice Centre rink manager Don Young for their commitment and dedication to the OU Hockey program. With the win, Oklahoma's record improves to 25-7-2 while Liberty now has a record of 22-11-4. Oklahoma travels to Arizona next weekend and makes two stops: the first stop is Tempe for two games against Arizona State on Friday and Saturday nights followed by a single game in Flagstaff against Northern Arizona on Sunday morning.
Liberty 1 - 2 - 0 -- 3 FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, OU, Allan (Miller, Martin), 9:04 (pp); 2, LIB, Bauman (Semenyna), 16:28. Penalties: OU, Miller (cross-checking), 6:03; LIB, Moller (holding), 8:54; LIB, Lane (interference), 11:48; OU, Smith (hooking), 17:27; LIB, Semenyna (hooking), 19:40. SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 3, LIB, Reynolds (Bauman), 1:50 (sh); 4, OU, Nicolaou (Brewer, Martin), 2:57 (pp); 5, OU, Martin (Curtiss), 15:34; 6, LIB, Bauman (Hendrix), 19:03 (pp). Penalties: LIB, Bauman (boarding), 1:11; LIB, Lane (cross-checking), 3:25; LIB, Tucker (roughing), 16:05; OU, Hayden (roughing), 16:05; OU, Brewer (goaltender interference), 17:27; OU, Johnson (hooking), 18:26. THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 7, OU, Bryant (Martin, Hetrick), 4:25; 8, OU, Brewer (Borchgrevink), 12:13; 9, OU, Martin (unassisted), 17:56 (en). Penalties: OU, Miller (holding the stick), 18:30. Shots on goal:
Liberty 6 9 11 - 26 Oklahoma 9 13 10 - 32
Goalies: OU, Helgason (26 shots, 23 saves); LIB, Way (32, 27). Referee: Watkins. Linesmen: Mercer, LaForce. ### BOOMER SOONER! ### |
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