Every college kid needs a little review before the big exam, and the Bobcats ought to get their studying in this weekend.
Just one week away from the American Collegiate Hockey Association national tournament, Ohio will get a taste of what the competition will be like at the big dance when the Adrian Bulldogs visit Bird Arena for the Bobcats’ final two home games of the season.
Instead of a tune-up for the big games to come, the 12th-ranked Bulldogs (24-12-1) have the quality to probe sixth-ranked Ohio (25-12-1) as final preparations for nationals get underway.
Adrian is as hot as it can be without melting the ice, as the team sports a 13-game winning streak and has not lost since Jan. 13. Last weekend, the Bulldogs won the Great Lakes Collegiate Hockey League tournament by avenging two earlier losses to Oakland.
And unlike most teams that visit Athens, Adrian has also found success at Bird Arena, sweeping Ohio the last time the teams met in February 2010.
All of that adds up to an important test for an Ohio squad still trying to piece every part of its game together.
“I’m a little more concerned with the style of play than the wins,” coach Dan Morris said. “We’re making strides to play the way we want to play, and hopefully we’ll continue to make those strides. We’ve got to use this as a challenge to keep moving towards completing our game.”
Beyond the importance of these games in the context of the season, they’ll also have an added significance as the last home games in the careers of the eight seniors on Ohio’s roster.
The class of 2012 — Michael Schultz, Jared Fuhs, Zach Tisdale, Jeremy Browning, Zack Barbis, Jay Mazzarella, Jake Holzemer and Josh Fodor — have formed the backbone of 114 wins over the past four seasons. They’ve also won two Central States Collegiate Hockey League tournament titles (in 2009 and 2011) and the 2010 CSCHL regular-season championship, as well as making it to two consecutive ACHA tournament semifinals.
“There’s a lot of great memories with this group,” Morris said. “To see how far they’ve come from where they started to where they are now is just amazing.”
For Schultz, these games won’t just be emotional: They could be record-breaking. At 211 points scored in his career, he is only seven away from the all-time Ohio record.
That record belongs to a guy Schultz has gotten to know pretty well over the past four years — his coach, one Dan Morris, who called Schultz “an exceptional player.”
Schultz has also missed just two games in his four years as a Bobcat, and is on the brink of the all-time games played record. But after 162 games in a green-and-white sweater, the only ones that matter now are the potential six ahead.
“It’s obviously an honor to be up there and as close as I am to it, but I’m trying not to focus on that,” Schultz said of the records. “I’m just trying to get a couple wins, especially for all the seniors this weekend and for our team to have momentum to go into nationals.”
cd211209@ohiou.edu
