UW Hockey Club Sweeps Weekend Series with Montana State

The University of Wyoming club hockey team climbed over the .500 mark with a weekend sweep of Montana State University (MSU).

The Pokes defeated the Bobcats in two close overtime matches, 4-3 last Friday and 9-8 in a high-scoring contest the following afternoon. The wins pushed UW’s overall record to 4-2 on the season.

The Pokes jumped out to a quick two-goal lead in the opener against MSU by scoring goals 92 seconds apart. Goals by Mark Kunitz, from Airdrie, Alberta, Canada, and Tyler Johnson, from Gillette, put the Pokes in a comfortable position in the first period. The Bobcats tallied a late first period goal to make it 2-1 going into the second period.

The Cowboys continued to pad their lead with a goal from Alec Macdougall, from Champion, Pa., just two-and-a-half minutes into the second period. The lead slowly disappeared as MSU tallied two early goals in the third period to send the match into overtime.

The Pokes went only three minutes into overtime to secure the game-winner from Dan Franks, from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, to win 4-3 in OT.

The next afternoon, the Pokes again jumped out to an early two-goal lead on shots from Franks and Ryan Baer, from Fort Collins, Colo. The lead would get cut by an MSU goal late in the period. The second period would contain a whopping eight goals -- four for each team.

The Cowboys would still carry a 6-5 lead going into the third period. In the final frame, the Pokes saw their one-goal lead disappear, and eventually fall behind 8-7, with more than nine minutes left in regulation.

Johnson sent the game into OT with a shot into the net with just 1:20 remaining. The late tally momentum carried into overtime where the Pokes scored the game-winner two minutes into the overtime period on a shot from Casper’s Jeremy Miller.

The Cowboys hit the road for a tough road trip with the first of four back-to-back games beginning Wednesday, Nov. 2, against Weber State in Ogden, Utah.