EDMOND, Okla. — UNLV put 20 shots on Central Oklahoma’s net in the first period and still went to intermission trailing. The No. 2 Skatin’ Rebels had kept the Bronchos in their own end for long stretches, but Cullen Hogan scored twice on just seven UCO shots to erase Mason Kelly’s opening goal and put UNLV behind 2-1.
The Rebels answered with four goals in the second period and another early in the third, winning 6-2 Friday at Arctic Edge Ice Arena. Easton Edwards scored twice, Zach Boren put UNLV ahead for good and Luke Baker and Dillon Kuntz finished a second-period push that Central Oklahoma could not answer.
UNLV improved to 7-0, outshooting UCO 58-20. Hunter Farrer stopped 52 shots for the Bronchos, while Liam Choquette made 18 saves on 20 shots and did not allow a goal over the final 43 minutes and 45 seconds. The margin at the finish was comfortable. Getting there took considerably more work than the score suggested.
The Rebels were on the puck almost immediately. When Central Oklahoma recovered behind Farrer, UNLV closed on the first outlet and made the Bronchos try another route. A clearance that failed to get beyond the blue line turned into another shift defending. Early in the period, UCO was able to relieve the pressure only briefly before the Rebels sent the puck back behind its defensemen.
The first power play came when Central Oklahoma defenseman Chaz Jaeb was called for slashing at 5:57. UNLV already had an 8-1 shot advantage. Oliver Band worked from below the goal line and found Edwards near the net, but Edwards hit the post. The advantage ended without a goal, and Farrer had already been asked to make several saves before UCO could settle.
Kelly scored at 8:59. He carried toward the net, hesitated long enough to move Farrer and then released his shot. Hayden Siegel and Dylan Gordon were credited with the assists. UNLV had spent the opening minutes recovering pucks, re-entering the zone and making Central Oklahoma defend another chance. Kelly finally finished one.
Hogan turned the period in just over two minutes. With 5:47 left, he gathered the puck after a play involving Joshua Bishop and Robby Rabroker, worked across Choquette’s crease and finished to the far side. It was Central Oklahoma’s fifth shot and tied the game 1-1.
UNLV then gave the Bronchos a power play. Ryder McIntosh was called for high sticking at 15:09, and Hogan scored at 16:15 after the puck reached him near the net while Choquette was moving across his crease. Draeden Bear and Carter DeMelo assisted. UCO had found two goals from the few dangerous possessions it had managed to build.
UNLV went back to the locker room with 20 shots and one goal. Farrer had stopped 19 of them. Central Oklahoma had scored twice on seven shots, including its lone power-play goal. The Rebels’ pressure was real, but they had not done enough with second chances or kept Hogan from finding room at the other end.
Edwards changed that 1:10 into the second period. UNLV worked the puck from below the goal line toward the middle. Farrer made an initial save, but Edwards was available in the slot for the next chance and finished before the Bronchos could recover around their crease. Charles Masek and McIntosh received the assists.
The Rebels did not need to chase another goal by forcing shots from the outside. They kept getting to loose pucks, sending them behind the defense and holding the offensive blue line after UCO tried to clear. Kelly had another close chance that Farrer stopped. Mario DiMaggio and the UNLV defensemen kept finding opportunities to return the puck toward the net.
At 7:58, another failed clearance became the lead. Central Oklahoma had a chance to move the puck out of its zone and could not complete the play. UNLV recovered and found Boren, who finished to make it 3-2. Shaun Rios and Kuntz earned the assists. Boren’s goal came from a possession the Bronchos had been close to ending.
Farrer continued to keep Central Oklahoma within one. UNLV did not stop pressing, though, and the Bronchos spent too much of the middle period trying to get the puck away from their net. The Rebels outshot UCO 27-4 in the second. Those numbers followed the puck movement on the ice: failed exits, extended defensive shifts and repeated attacking chances before the Bronchos could change.
Baker finally provided some room at 16:59, scoring his third goal of the season with assists from Kelly and Asher Wites. UNLV had a 4-2 lead, and Central Oklahoma still had to finish the period with the Rebels coming back into its zone.
Kuntz added another goal with only three seconds left before intermission. Gaige Giblin and Boren assisted on Kuntz’s first of the season, making it 5-2. After trailing at the first break despite a 20-7 shot advantage, UNLV left the second period having scored four times on 27 shots while allowing just four at the other end.
Edwards scored again at 2:37 of the third. Gordon and Bryce Johnson supplied the assists, giving Edwards two goals and pushing the lead to 6-2. His first had tied the game after a save and recovery near the slot. His second ended Central Oklahoma’s hope of turning another close game into a comeback.
The Rebels had opportunities with an extra skater throughout the night but finished 0-for-4 on the power play. All six UNLV goals came at even strength. Central Oklahoma was 1-for-3, with Hogan’s second goal accounting for its power-play scoring. UCO had paid for penalties in recent losses, but on Friday it was the repeated five-on-five pressure that finally beat the Bronchos.
Choquette had much less work than Farrer, particularly in the second period. He faced four shots during the Rebels’ four-goal response, then stopped all nine he saw in the third. UNLV had to kill later penalties on Boren and Rios, but Central Oklahoma did not get a third goal or cut into the four-goal margin.
The Rebels have now scored 39 goals and allowed 10 through seven games. Their season has already included a 12-1 win over San Diego State and a 2-1 finish at Grand Canyon, where Choquette and the skaters in front of him defended a one-goal lead for the final 22-plus minutes. Friday was another kind of test: enough possession to control the ice, but an early deficit because two chances got away.
Against San Diego State, UNLV had taken 61 shots in a 3-2 win before finding teammates near the crease more consistently in a 12-1 rematch. The lesson carried into Edmond. The first shot alone did not beat Farrer often enough. Edwards scored when the next chance remained available, Boren finished after a failed clear, and the Rebels kept attacking until the Bronchos could no longer stay within one goal.
UNLV returns to Arctic Edge for Saturday’s rematch, with Utah coming to City National Arena the following week. Friday’s first period showed how quickly Hogan could punish a mistake. The final two periods showed what happened when Central Oklahoma could not get out of its own end.
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