UPDATED – Razorback Hockey Team Back in Post-Season Play

The Razorback Hockey team is in Irmo, South Carolina for the first-round South Regional Hockey match-up against the Christopher Newport University Captains Friday. The regional tournament marks the start of national post-season play.

The Hogs must win on both Friday and Saturday in order to earn a spot at Nationals and keep their national post-season alive. There are 119 teams at the Division III level, and the regional selection process narrows that field to the top forty remaining teams.

Friday’s game against Christopher Newport marks the Hogs’ third appearance in the National post-season. In 2009-10, the Hogs defeated South Florida and Clemson to earn the program’s only trip to Nationals. Then, in 2010-11, Arkansas defeated Richmond in the first-round but lost to Florida Atlantic University in the waning minutes of a heart-breaker.

Last season, the Razorbacks did not have the opportunity to compete in the national post-season given their suspension from post-season play by the ACHA due to a player who had falsified transcripts.

“We are thrilled to be back in the post-season given what happened to us last season,” said Razorback Hockey coach, Brian Gallini.

This season, Arkansas enters the post-season on a ten-game winning streak, having closed out the regular season with its fourth consecutive 20-win season and its fourth consecutive regular season SECHC-West conference title.

The team puts that streak on the line against a talented Christopher Newport University team that finished its regular season with 17 wins. The Captains are led in scoring by Kyle Jahn (24 G, 28 A) and Brandon Finch (14 G, 20 A). Eric Dumas has backstopped the Captains throughout the season. Last season, the Captains lost to Alabama in the first round of the South Regional.

Arkansas has never played Christopher Newport.

“We are excited for the opportunity to be back in the post-season,” said Gallini. “We know we need to play our best hockey against CNU. They’re a talented hockey team with wins over several quality opponents.”

Face-off on Friday is at 2:30 pm EST at Plex Indoor Sports in Irmo, South Carolina. You can keep up with the team in action live by following them on Twitter here: @RazorbackHockey.

UPDATE:

The Razorback Hockey team won in overtime against the Christopher Newport University Captains and face Alabama at 11:00am CST Saturday for the 2nd round of Regionals. The winner of that match earns a trip to Nationals.

UPDATE II:

From the Razorback Hockey team: “Game over, we lost 3-4. The boys played their hearts out and left everything on the ice. They had an incredible season and played amazingly this weekend. They’ll be back on the ice next weekend fighting for the SEC Championship.”