During the weekend, the Bobcats peppered Kent State’s legion of goalies with 100 shots, 23 finding the back of the net. But coach Dan Morris still wasn’t pleased.
Morris made the decision to give some players a weekend to heal and get back to full strength, with sophomore defenseman Tyler Benson and junior Paul Sergi sitting both games.
This meant added playing time for freshmen Tyler Pecka and Derek Rahme, as well as some work on the blue line for junior Zander Dover since Morris had only five defenders dressed and needed to complete a third defensive pair.
Dover’s inspired play was one of the few positives Morris could gather from his defenders in what was a sloppy game for the unit.
During the first period of the first game, the defense was sloppy with the puck in terms of making the first pass and creating an offensive rush. The play improved as the game progressed, but it was something Morris wants his team to improve upon.
“The defenseman could not make the first pass,” he said. “It’s frustrating. We came out in the second (period) and had a nice regroup. … Then we started going laterally instead of north, and then we saw some success.”
Despite improvements in the second game, Morris said his defenders were too soft and allowed the Golden Flashes to push them around too much. The lack of experience in the lineup played a role.
“It’s a tough game for a young player to play good defensive hockey in,” Morris said. “You get caught up in the offensive side of things, and then you forget about your back end. I think that was the case a couple of times.”
The light week of practices after the physical road series against Penn State also played a role in the light defensive play of the freshmen.
“The veteran guys appreciate that because they respond to it,” Morris said. But to the freshmen and the young guys, when you take days off or tone it down for the week, they can’t turn it on Friday. “The intensity has to start Monday for those guys. That’s something that we learned this week and we won’t make that mistake the rest of the year.”
The weekend was also highlighted by consecutive large crowds.
It was the type of crowd the Bobcats and freshman Garrett Williams, who scored four goals on Saturday, feed off of.
“That motivates us a lot, really the whole team,” Williams said. “We have an urge on our back to play even better.”
ch203301@ohiou.edu
