Even the best of teams need a marker - a way to gauge their talents with that of the best in the land. For the Ohio hockey team, that marker is the Penn State Icers.
With the Icers again ranked No. 1 in the American Collegiate Hockey Association, the Bobcats (13-7-1) probably have their biggest series of the season this weekend at Bird Arena.
We talk about a game like this to measure where we are
coach Dan Morris said. After a slow start we've closed the gap with the best teams around.
Aside from measuring themselves with the No. 1 team in the land, the Bobcats have a personal vendetta, as Penn State defeated them in last year's national championship game and twice beat them in State College, Pa., earlier this season.
With a 9-1 Central States Collegiate Hockey League record, Ohio is tied with Illinois for the league lead. But because of a slow start, including going 1-4 through the first two weekends of Fall Quarter, the team did not make a big splash in the national ACHA rankings until the last posting when they moved up to No. 6.
Assistant coach Ryan Walicki said the next four weekends will be huge in determining where Ohio will be for nationals.
We have to stay focused for the next month Walicki said. January is a good time to make a run
and you can see our team is starting to mold.
In the first two games at Ohio, center Frank Kubas said the team failed to take advantage of opportunities, particularly when the Bobcats did not apply enough pressure on Penn State's freshman goaltender.
We need to get at him early
Kubas said. They're a good team
and we have to find our opportunities and capitalize on them.
Kubas has been a big part of the development of the team's 12 freshman, Walicki said.
You can see it in practice with the young guys
Walicki said. The light bulb just sort of clicks on
and they understand our system.
Freshmen such as forwards Grady Clingan and Paul Warriner have made big contributions on the offensive end, but forward Sean Gallagher has been the biggest spark. He leads the team in both goals (12) and scoring (21).
Scoring is about taking advantage of the shots you get
Gallagher said. You can only put in the work and capitalize on what your opponent gives you.
Gallagher added an assist last weekend as the team rolled against Washington and Jefferson in two games, 3-1 and 6-0. However, Morris said that the team needed a little more conditioning going into this weekend. He changed the practice schedule to allow for two days of hard conditioning instead of one. He also said Ohio would spend a good portion of the week working on their penalty kill and on pressuring the young Icers goalie.
Bird Arena will be a difficult place for a younger guy to play
Morris said. We have to keep traffic in front of him and keep him from getting comfortable. You just have to keep down his confidence.
Ohio takes on Penn State at 7:30 p.m. today and Saturday at Bird Arena.
