Candace Riley // Josh Pusar skates on Oct.5, 2019

The Wildcats took less than 10 seconds to convert on a powerplay – the 2-1 goal coming at 19:10 of the first period on Saturday.

A team that has played the demon (no Arizona pun intended) for the Sooners looked to be turning the third and final match of the weekend set around for their better yet again.

Then Cameron Bickford received a pass from Charles Joly in the offensive zone, and he sent it towards the crease owned by Arizona’s Nolan Bivolcic. Josh Pusar re-directed it in to tie with 32 seconds remaining. The day previous, Arizona erased an early 1-0 deficit all the way to a 3-1 victory. However, the 19:28 mark of period 1 was when I knew this was going to be different – when I knew Oklahoma was going to earn their 7th conference win of the season.

Going into Saturday, the Sooners were already on the road. They then were looking at facing #7 once more without the services of Isaac Bosse and Paolo De Sousa who originally made the trip. The opening goal was a floater from Luc Whyte, and you have to get some bounces eventually. 

The second period started 2-2, which was more first-period offense displayed between Arizona and Oklahoma all season. Josh Pusar then picked up where he left off: scoring. The Sooners found themselves in a three-on-one (it even became a four-on-two) situation less than a minute in. Pusar was allowed to walk right in and score the game-winning goal.

Phil Babb was making his third-straight start, and he still had plenty to give by turning in two scoreless frames in the 2nd and 3rd, including this game-saver.

Anyway, about that Sun Devils game…

Let’s go back in time to Thursday night @Arizona State. What a turnaround for Coach Green and the ‘Devils so far this season. A WCHL-worst finish to #3 in the conference as this is being typed. This was by no means going to be a ‘gimme’ game for Oklahoma, and on a Thursday night. The second period began scoreless, but some OU veterans came to play. Jackson Giammona launched a sneaky shot past ASU’s Nathan Severtson off a rush and then Paolo De Sousa parked himself in the slot and scored, all with a Sun Devil player up in his grill.

The first instance of Oklahoma being opportunistic came with under 14 minutes remaining in regulation, the score 2-1. Jeff O’Dea snapped one on net off the faceoff for the GWG. Oklahoma has now swept the #15 Sun Devils 3-0-0, and those are going to be worth a good deal as Arizona State defeated #12 UCO 5-4 (SO) and 4-2.

#18 Oklahoma can now add wins over (current) #7 and #15 to its resume. The Colorado State Rams fell out of the top 25 on Nov. 6.

More on Bickford…

This section will be more on the ‘Cameron Bickford is good’ train. #24 added two assists – including that game saving one to Josh Pusar – on Saturday, and I uploaded a clip of him calmly escaping a pressure-heavy situation.

This wasn’t a goal, assist or fancy deke – well, he does avoid the check of Dawson Marshall – but a good many defensemen in this situation would be more interested in going off the glass in an attempt to clear the zone. Bickford retains possession and retreats to below the goal line, forcing the forecheckers to respect Bickford’s two outlet options. (They could’ve pressured more here but the puck likely would’ve been long gone as a result). Pause it at 0:12 – Kevin Moran easily skates out of the defensive zone and is even leaving behind two Wildcats. I provide links and video to all goals and major saves, but I thought this deserved some love. Without Isaac Bosse in the lineup, our freshman defenseman was tasked with playing more, and here he excelled. 

This may sound like a dead horse is crying for help, but it’s one thing to do it at BIC; another in Tucson when you’re tired.

Overall…

Oklahoma played a very back-to-basics game on Saturday. Dump & chase, ice it on the PK (and get some timely saves of course) and take advantage of the few chances you may get. While I was watching, all I could think about was how well they were dealing with pressure. Not a single even-strength goal was allowed. With the array of assassins (Cusanelli, Marshall bros…) that Arizona possesses, you want to make them beat you. It was a top-10 win on the road.

An old friend…

How about Arkansas? No longer a member of the Western league but per this release, they are (or were) atop the Pacific region of the ACHA D3 rankings.

Cover photo of Josh Pusar is credited to Candace Riley. You can follow her work here.

Thanks for reading.