If Ohio’s high-octane offense set the tone for the season last weekend with its sweep of the John Carroll Blue Streaks, fans of the club hockey team have reason to get excited.
Ohio heads into this week with a perfect record—after a decisive 9-1 victory Friday, the team repeated its success Saturday, winning 5-3.
The team has plenty to be pleased with, showing dominance in just about all areas. The Bobcats outscored the Blue Streaks 14-4, with 12 different players making contributions.
The lopsided scoring allowed coach Dan Morris to spread the playing time between players and give Ohio’s newest additions the opportunity to build rapport with the team’s veterans.
“We had a lot of new faces out there and they played well,” Morris said after Friday’s match. “As the game went on we got more comfortable with each other, and you could see the benefits of that with the lopsided score.”
One of these new faces, freshman center James Howard, scored in his first outing with the Bobcats netting a goal during the third period of play in Friday’s opener.
“It’s awesome and it feels great,” Howard said about scoring his first goal. “The best part of it all is winning with the team and feeling a sense of camaraderie with my teammates.”
Ohio showed dominance on the defensive end, supporting the high expectations that the coaching staff placed on the squad heading into the season. The Bobcats remained aggressive throughout the series with forechecking that helped the team keep the puck in their possession.
Junior defenseman Jonathan Gulch said the new guys on defense did well, and that the squad will improve from here on out with additional time on the ice.
“Chemistry is a big thing,” Gulch said. “Our players have the skill sets; we just need to get the chemistry down. Once we do that, we’ll be set.”
Three different goalies were provided experience between the pipes: Fedor Dushkin held down the net throughout the opener, while Matt Michno started Saturday and played a majority of the match before being relieved by Ian Smith.
Though it’s hard to be too critical of Ohio’s play through the weekend, Morris still sees areas for improvement heading into their next series.
“We were 0 for 5 in the power play,” Morris said after Friday’s opener. “We gave up a goal in the penalty kill so we’re minus one in special teams. It’s an area we need to improve on.”
jd202409@ohiou.edu
