The No. 7 OU hockey team heads to nationals in Chicago this weekend, facing a familiar foe in the first game.

OU drew Central Oklahoma in the first round, and the Sooners are 12-2 all-time against UCO.

Sophomore goaltender Matt Pombo said the team is focused.

“We’re all here to do one thing, and that’s to win nationals” he said.

Sixteen teams qualify for the ACHA D1 national tournament, which is single elimination, but only wins four games and all the glory.

In hockey, the concept of defense winning championships goes one step further. If one man (the goalie) does his job exceptionally, he can win games almost singlehandedly. In fact, the clichés “You have to ride the hot goalie,” and “He can really steal a game,” have truth to them

In his last six starts, Pombo has posted five wins, four against top-10. Pombo ranks 6th in the ACHA D1 with 15 wins and 2.65 goals against average (for goalies with over 1,000 minutes played) for the season.

Pombo said good defensemen are vital to a goalie's success.

“When they do their job it makes mine easy.” Pombo said.

Senior Robbie Hetrick, an alternate captain, and junior Shawn Hayden lead OU’s defensive unit. Both are tall (6’3” and 6’5” respectively) with long reaches.

Hayden suffered a lower-body injury against Liberty last Friday but could be ready to go by Saturday’s first round game. If he isn’t able to go, OU will be without their second difference-maker on defense.

Senior defenseman Austin Miller, the team captain, suffered a foot fracture in December, blocking a shot in practice. Since the injury occurred before the semester began, he retains one semester of eligibility. Miller has said he will use that eligibility next spring.

OU has plenty of young talent capable of stepping in. Freshmen defensemen Augie Hoffman and Troy Puente have played together before and have settled into their crimson and cream sweaters. Hoffman is the wild card. He likes to “chirp” and get under the opponents skin. Puente is a floor general, cool and calm. The odd couple means their impact is often outside of the box score.

Speed changes everything in hockey; it can warp the geometry of the ice at any second and get the opponent out of their game.

The slower team often tries to out-hit a faster team, playing a “check-first, score later” brand of hockey. If OU can withstand the early onslaught and shed some big checks they can strike the blows that really count: the ones in the back of the net.

Alternate Captain and junior forward Blake Martin, freshman forward Chad Hudson and freshman forward Nic Powers are just a few of the headliners on OU’s squad.

Junior forward Blake Martin leads the team in penalty minutes, often getting penalized for standing up for his teammates.

McCabe is OU’s not-so-secret weapon. The first-year Sooner leads the team with 26 goals and 32 assists, giving him 58 points. He accredits his unselfish line-mates for his success.

“Playing with them is a privilege,” he said. “I love playing with them. They get you the puck. They do the things you want them to do, ideal hockey guys. That makes it fun to play and I just try and fit in, to get some chemistry with those guys.”

McCabe and Martin form the “Anchorage Connection” line with junior Jesse Bryant. Martin and Bryant grew up in Anchorage and McCabe played with them there before coming to OU. Junior forwards Jarrod Yost and Chris Nicolaou also played in Alaska before becoming Sooners.

The Sooners have gotten themselves in trouble by committing too many penalties and putting themselves at a disadvantage.

In their last nine games, OU has lost twice. They averaged roughly 40 penalty minutes per game in the losses and only around 20 in the wins.

Freshman forward Nic Power said that with fewer penalties, OU could become unstoppable.

“Nobody can really hang with us when we’re five on five, full strength” Power said.

Everywhere you look on the roster, the Sooners have very capable players. They could run four or five lines constantly at nationals against opponents.

Senior goaltender Chad Helgason and junior forward Daryl Dee said that depth is the key difference to this year’s OU team, and that depth is what you need to win at Nationals.

OU has lost in overtime each of the last two years at nationals. They went 5-5 in overtime games this season, but have won three of their last four.

The Sooners are battle-tested, having played the league’s toughest schedule this year. Of OU’s 36 games this season, 27 came against teams in the tournament or the top-12 at season’s end. They’ve posted a 14-8-5 (14 wins, eight regulation losses, five overtime losses) record against the ACHA’s best, and have won five of their last six.

The ACHA D1 National Championship tournament will be hosted by Robert Morris University Illinois and will take place March 6-10 at The Edge in Bensenville, IL. UCO, whom OU swept in four games this season, has 15 players from Illinois on their 25-man roster. Only one Sooner, Hoffman, hails from Illinois, coming from Lake Forest.

Games can be followed on www.fasthockey.com.