Men’s D1 ice hockey to play Arkansas in last regular season games

February 16, 2018

Senior goalie Michael Hails practices drills during practice at the Wentzville Ice Arena. The Lions play the Arkansas Razorbacks for their last regular season games on Feb. 16 and 17 in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Photo by Kayla Bakker.

KAYLA BAKKER | Reporter

The Lions face the University of Arkansas Razorbacks at the Jones Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas, this weekend for the team’s last regular season games. This will be the first time the Lions play the Razorbacks this season.

The Razorbacks have a record of 8-25-1. They lost the last 10 of their games. The Lions had an eight-game win streak before losing to Robert Morris University on Feb. 10. Their record is 21-4-4. The Lions are now currently ranked third in the ACHA Men’s Division I.

The Razorbacks’ top player is junior forward Luc Gradisar. He has 33 points this season with 23 goals and 10 assists.

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Junior forward Alex Kalau looks toward these last games to set the Lions up for the playoffs.

“This will be an opportunity for us to set the tempo for the playoff hockey in our future,” Kalau said. “The conference and national tournaments are a different animal, and we need to be prepared.”

These are the Lions’ last games of the regular season before they travel to Athens, Ohio, for the Central States Collegiate Hockey League playoffs Feb. 23-25.

The puck drops at 7 p.m. Feb. 16 and 4 p.m. Feb. 17 at the Jones Center in Fayetteville.