Although the Bobcats made winning look effortless this past weekend with a scoring onslaught that has propelled them to a perfect 2-0 record, coach Dan Morris does not expect this weekend to be as easy.
“Our expectations are that as the season goes on, the teams we face get better,” Morris said.
Ohio won’t be the only team to enter Bird Arena with a perfect record as it hosts the Pittsburgh Panthers, who tout a 2-0 record after beating Indiana this past weekend.
Morris said he is pleased to see the Bobcats off to a fast start, with a majority of the team’s players having already seen playing time.
“We got to see a lot of things and play all but two of our players. We played 26 guys this past weekend, which was nice to see,” Morris said.
Despite the fact that there was little to complain about going into this week’s set of practices, the team has been working on improving in whatever ways it can for the contests against Pittsburgh.
Defensive coach Jonathon Sheridan shares Morris’ optimism, but has been working with the defensive squad this week to ensure that it is ready against a Panther offense that outscored the Hoosiers 7-3 last weekend.
“This week we’ve been working on a lot of drills that deal with hinging, breakout passes, regrouping, working with our partners, and point shots.” Sheridan said. “There’s always stuff to work on, but I was happy with the way the guys played. There was nothing too drastic that we can’t fix.”
On the other side of the ice, offensive coach Michael Callan has tried his best to keep the energy high on the offensive end. Despite the fact that the Bobcats were able to harass the opposing goalie’s net last weekend, Callan said he would like to see the offense put itself in a position to take more high-percentage shots.
“We worked on entering the zone, breaking up the other team’s defense, and getting opportunities in the slot,” Callan said. “This weekend we need to see more ‘grade-A’ shot opportunities and puck movement from the power play.”
jd202409@ohiou.edu
