Facing seemingly insurmountable odds of pulling off a three-game road sweep against two of the top teams in the nation, the 21^st-ranked Grand Canyon University D1 Men's Hockey team did just that, knocking off 25^th-ranked University of Oklahoma, 5-2, Thursday night, then following that up with a stunning 2-1 overtime victory Friday night over 3^rd-ranked University of Central Oklahoma. The Lopes completed the trifecta Saturday afternoon with a 4-2 win over UCO. The Lopes extended their winning streak to nine games - which easily shatters the Lopes' previous record for most consecutive victories in a season (old record was six games set back in 2018) - and keeps their hopes alive for clinching their first-ever American Collegiate Hockey League Division 1 Playoff berth.

Thursday:  GCU 5, Oklahoma 2

The Lopes showed how focused they were from the outset, jumping on the Sooners Thursday night by scoring all five goals in the first 32 minutes of the contest. It was a balanced effort, with five different Lopes' goal scorers (Triston Tabucol, Gavin Uckele, Booker Chacalias, Michael Lewis, Ben Oakland) and six others providing assists (Ricards Landmanis contributing three). The Lopes did all this despite being outshot by OU, 41-27, but Lopes' goalie Jacob DeMoranville swatted away 39 Sooners' shots.

Friday:  GCU 2, Central Oklahoma 1 (F/OT)

Just how impressive were the Lopes on the trip? Friday was the only time during the weekend that the Lopes actually trailed, falling behind, 1-0, on UCO's Ondrej Blaja's goal midway through the 1^st period. The Lopes didn't neutralize the deficit until four minutes into the 2^nd period, when Braden Husby set up Mikhail Simchuk for the tying goal. A defensive struggle ensued, keeping the 1-1 tie intact throughout the remainder of regulation. Midway through the extra session, Hunter Schmitz and Cameron Neaylon weaved their way from near the GCU net through the UCO defense to the left side of the Bronchos' goal. Neaylon flipped a pass to a streaking Schmitz, who worked around a fallen defender and flipped the puck high into the net past UCO goalie Artem Lantukh for the game-winner. Again, the Lopes were outshot, 33-24, but the Bronchos could find no more than one successful opportunity all night on Lopes' goalie Dmytro Kubritskyi.

Saturday:  GCU 4, Central Oklahoma 2

An angry Bronchos' team came out firing, posting 19 shots on goal in the 1^st period alone Saturday, but had no lead to show for it, since Caden Henrikson gave the Lopes a 1-0 lead 11 minutes in, then UCO's Cash Regan tied it 100 seconds before the intermission. From then on, penalties made the difference, since both teams scored power-play goals in the first six minutes of the 2^nd period, then after Schmitz gave the Lopes the lead for good on an even-strength goal late in the second period, Husby put things out of reach with a power-play empty-netter in the final seconds of the game. Chacalias and Schmitz each had a goal and two assists to pace the Lopes, and Riley Morgan followed the lead of the other two Lopes' goalies by stonewalling 37 of the 39 UCO shots.





















With their regular season schedule complete, the Lopes now play the waiting game. While they are anxiously awaiting the new poll release Wednesday, the ACHL D1 regular season doesn't end until next weekend, so playoff bids are still at least a week away. The ACHA D1 National Tournament will be held March 7 through 12 in St. Louis, Missouri, and the expanded format will include the top 24 teams in the final regular season rankings.