Sooners Bounce Back After Opening Night Loss

After a subpar start to the season last Friday, the Sooners rallied back to even their record at 1-1 on Saturday against the visiting Arkansas Razorbacks.

Head coach Austin Miller called the team’s effort in Friday night's 4-1 loss “one-dimensional”, noting that Arkansas was constantly forcing the Sooners into poor decisions and sloppy neutral zone play.

“That’s what we’re supposed to be doing to them,” Miller said. Heading into Saturday’s rematch, he focused the team’s efforts on better moving the puck when on the attack, hoping to put the Razorbacks’ defensemen on their heels in game two.

When the puck dropped on Saturday afternoon, Miller’s adjustments became immediately apparent. Four different Sooners scored throughout the game, with Marshall Rushing (1G, 1A) and Nate Pane (2A) scoring multiple points as OU came out on the winning end of another 4-1 result.

For Sooners goalie Brendan Culbertson-Bond, the win had special significance. After undergoing knee surgery and confronting the loss of the grandparents who adopted him, this weekend marked the first game action for Culbertson-Bond in quite some time.

Facing 31 shots, Culbertson-Bond turned away 30 in a near-perfect performance, only allowing a single power play tally from Cameron McAtee early in the second period.

After the Sooners’ win, coach Miller joined his players in celebrating, but said his focus is still on preparing for their next opponent and working to improve a talented bunch of players.