The University of Central Oklahoma Bronchos (13-12-0-0) defeated the San Diego State Aztecs (3-16-1-0) by a score of 6-2.
“I think no one can tell me that that team is better than us; we beat ourselves,” assistant coach Jason Galea said. “It’s just very frustrating. One of the things that I said to our guys today is that it’s a skill to finish a game.”
Central Oklahoma took the opening game of the back-to-back series by a score of 9-6 on the backs of center Jeff Rebmann’s five-point game and left winger Davis Thompson’s hat trick. The Aztecs had four players of their own get four points in the team’s highest-scoring game against a conference opponent this season. The Bronchos are the first non-top-25 team in the conference that SDSU has hosted.
Aztec junior goaltender Liam Dee started in between the pipes for the Aztec and he came into the game with a 0-6-0-0 record, while Hunter Farrer (6-4-0-0) started the game for the Bronchos
Broncho winger Brandon McDonald opened the scoring six minutes into the game after he was left wide open in front of the net and shot it past Dee’s glove side. Thompson scored his fourth goal of the weekend 66 seconds later after Rebmann’s saucer pass found his stick on a two-on-one opportunity.
After Aztec junior defenseman Connor Hennigan and winger Kolby Hennesy were assessed penalties 48 seconds apart to put Central Oklahoma on a 5 on 3 power play, Broncho center Cullen Hogan extended the lead to 3-0 on a wrist shot from the right face-off circle.
Aztec junior winger Cam Ferraz gave SDSU life 15 minutes into the period, scoring on a broken play when Farrer put the puck into his own net.
Ferraz and his line of fellow junior forwards Braden Mayer and Zach Stroozas were the team’s top line of the weekend, combining for four goals and eight assists in the two games.
“Cam scored some incredible goals this weekend,” Galea said. “We can’t say enough about Mayer, the guy is the absolute heart of a warrior, and every single game he plays. Even Stevie Wonder can see he’s probably the hardest working guy out there on both sides of the puck.”
SDSU got its first power play of the game with 1:34 left after Rebmann was called for a trip. The Scarlet and Black had scoring chances, but they were unable to convert before the first period ended.
The second period was a better frame for SDSU, as they had the puck in the offensive zone for most of it, but were unable to score, as their shots were blocked or Farrer kept the puck out of the net.
Central Oklahoma scored the only goal of the period as Culleen scored his second goal of the game when they went on the counter attack after the Aztecs failed to convert a chance of their own.
San Diego State had a chance to crawl back from the 4-1 deficit with two power play chances throughout the period and they had plenty of chances to score, but passes went awry at the moment of truth and Farrer loomed large in net.
Even though the Aztecs were down by three goals, the second period was a positive one for them; they played with a lot of energy and carried momentum into the third period.
With the final 20 minutes of play and momentum on their side, SDSU needed the next goal and were playing that way.
However, senior defenseman Logan Okanski was assessed a major cross-checking penalty after he got his stick up high on Broncho captain Sam Sykes in an altercation and drew blood. Okanski was also disqualified from the game, which meant that SDSU was without their top-pairing defenseman for the rest of the game.
Central Oklahoma had the opportunity to put the game away, as they had a five-minute power play and were allowed to score as many goals as possible, since a goal does not end a major power play, unlike a minor one.
The Bronchos took advantage of the untimely penalty as Rebmann dangled through the Aztec defense and put the puck in Dee’s five goal to go coast-to-coast and score an amazing goal to increase the lead to 5-1.
With a couple of minutes still left on the power play, SDSU caught a break as McDonald was called for a holding the stick penalty to make it four on four for two minutes.
Ferraz took every advantage of the opportunity as SDSU senior captain Ryan Elleraas fed him the puck and he hammered it home blocker side to cut the lead to 5-2.
The game was still within reach for the Aztecs as there was still time to get three goals to tie the game; however, they were unable to get consistent offensive zone time and Broncho winger Rens Tari put the game to bed with an empty netter to seal a 6-2 victory.
“Our goal tonight was to not be in the penalty box and here we are taking penalties again,” Galea said. “We need the full 60 minutes to win a hockey game, we can’t be killing 18 or 19 minutes a game and expect to win, it’s just not gonna happen.”
Central Oklahoma moves to 14-12-0-0 with the win, while the Aztecs fall to 3-17-1-0. SDSU travels to Boulder to play the University of Colorado in a two-game series beginning on Feb. 6 with a 7:00 p.m. puck drop.
