Oklahoma State University
Hockey is not the first sport most people would associate with Oklahoma State, but the Cowboys have been fielding an ACHA team since 2021. They’ve gotten off to a pretty hot start this year, but the same can not be said for a Creighton team that ended up on the receiving end of a brutal beatdown in a contest with a final score that resembled a football game.
The NCAA currently oversees 63 men’s hockey teams that compete at the Division I level (that number was 64 during the 2024-25 season, but American International College dropped its program due to budget issues).
However, there are more than 400 other institutions of higher learning with squads that are affiliated with the American Collegiate Hockey Association, the organization that’s been overseeing the programs that are usually positioned as “club” teams since it was formed in 1991.
Oklahoma State got in on the action in 2021, and the Cowboys ushered in their fifth season at the start of September. They were hoping to bounce back after going 4-17 last year, and they’ve managed to do exactly that by getting off to a 9-1 start—a record they improved in decisive fashion at the expense of a Creighton team that got outscored 45-7 in their two-game series over the weekend.
Oklahoma State’s hockey team beat Creighton 25-0 a day before they earned a 20-7 victory over the Blue Jays
The ACHA is not exactly a paragon of parity, as it boasts a fairly eclectic mix of players who can fall on very different ends of the talent spectrum. There are plenty of guys who had accomplished high school careers but lacked the skills to play on a “real” college hockey team, and there are also many relatively inexperienced players who view it as more of a hobby than anything else.
That also means bigger schools tend to have an edge by simply having a larger pool of people to pick from. Oklahoma State wasn’t able to capitalize on that advantage during the 2024-25 campaign, but the Cowboys kicked off the current one with six straight wins before New Mexico handed them their first (and, to date, only) loss of the season at the end of October.
Last week, Creighton made the trek from Omaha to Tulsa to face off against Oklahoma State on back-to-back days, and the two teams took to the ice for the first game at the WeStreet Ice Center on Saturday afternoon.
The showdown ended up being an absolute bloodbath, as the Cowboys earned a 25-0 victory in a contest where Corbin Roach scored a game-high five goals and was one of five players who ended up with a hat trick (Creighton goaltender David Larson did record 51 saves, but he also faced 76 shots to finish with a .671 percentage).
Creighton did fare a bit better in the rematch on Sunday, but Oklahoma State handed them another L with a 20-7 win.
Ouch.