From The University Daily Kansan
By Ben Hooke
The University of Kansas Jayhawks and University of Missouri Tigers have a well-known rivalry spanning many NCAA Division I sports. Teams in basketball, soccer, and baseball are all scheduled to face off this year, but the two schools will share a special matchup outside of the NCAA grounds when the club hockey teams of each school meet at the Cable Dahmer Arena in Independence, Missouri, on Feb. 29.
Both teams enter the game with strong records in the ACHA’s Men’s Division 3. The Jayhawks sit 22nd nationally, while the Tigers sit in third place in the most recent poll after winning the MACHA Championship on Feb. 11.
If there’s any additional motivation needed for Kansas, this matchup comes with some serious history. The Tigers ended Kansas’s national postseason hopes in the MACHA conference championship game with a 12-7 victory and have won the last three matchups, including a 15-2 beatdown that closed Kansas’s 2022-23 season.
Kansas last defeated Missouri in 2022, but this team is confident in a different result this year.
“We’ve grown a ton from this year (compared) to last year…” said Kansas junior defenseman and captain Caleb Dusseau, “just more team cohesiveness and it’s great to see.”
Kansas will enter the game with an added bonus from the last time they faced Missouri: rest. In contrast to the multi-game marathon that the MACHA tournament proved to be, the Jayhawks will line up with a much healthier roster.
“It will help us as a team,” Dusseau said of the nearly three-week break. “We had a bunch of guys injured last time that we won’t have injured now…we’re still practicing at full speed so we should stay fresh.”
Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Cable Dahmer Arena on Feb. 29. Tickets can be purchased here.
“This is going to be the best game (the fans) have seen Kansas hockey play in the last several years…it’ll be a great showing for the fans,” Dusseau said. “It’s Kansas vs. Mizzou. Who wouldn’t want to see that?”
(Originally published at https://www.kansan.com/sports/kansas-missouri-to-collide-in-rivalry-at-the-rink-game/article_b59a124a-d588-11ee-825a-c36a2e2c8419.html)
