The end to Ohio’s season was not planned as the Bobcats fell 5-1 in the American Collegiate Hockey Association Tournament semifinals to eventual national champion Minot State.
But taking a step back, the Bobcats were pleased with what they accomplished in the 2012-13 season.
“The result in the end wasn’t what we wanted,” junior defenseman Paul Sergi said. “But we still have got to look at the season as a very successful one.”
The Bobcats finished the season ranked fourth in the nation and never dropped out of the top ten of the ACHA rankings. Ohio also bested its ACHA Tournament quarterfinal exit last season and defeated Iowa State 4-0 to win the Central States Collegiate Hockey League’s Tournament title.
“There were goals that we wanted to achieve and we achieved some of those goals, which is a challenge,” coach Dan Morris said. “We set lofty goals and that put a lot of pressure on our players to achieve those goals, especially with a lot of young players in our lineup.”
And for Sergi and others, there was a definite sense of urgency to achieve some of those goals this season.
“For the recruiting class from last year, this was our only opportunity to play at home for the conference tournament,” he said. “Winning it in my first season will be really memorable.”
It was a point Morris made several times throughout the season that the team was filled with young talent, with 15 new faces on the roster this season, the second most he has had on the team since he took over as head coach in 2001.
With that many new players, senior leadership was necessary, Morris said. And forwards Nick Rostek, Jay Mazzarella, Jonathan Pietramala and Tyler Pilmore succeeded in the challenge of establishing an example.
“(They) set the tone,” Morris said. “Without strong leadership, you’re not successful. You have to build through it. Our early success is definitely based upon our leader’s ability to lead.”
With their collegiate hockey careers coming to a close, the seniors have some idea of what they want to do post-graduation.
Pietramala was going to attempt to play in Italy, but passport issues prevented it. His immediate plans are to travel across Canada from coast to coast. Mazzarella jokingly said he planned to be the next “Happy Gilmore” and take his game to the pro golf circuit. But in reality, he has a job lined up at American Bank where he’ll sell mortgages.
And Pilmore, who became Ohio’s all-time point leader, is working on establishing a contract with the Toledo Walleye of the East Coast Hockey League.
When it comes to replacing those four players, junior Brett Agnew doesn’t think it can be done.
“You can’t replace those guys,” Agnew said. “Those guys are the heart and soul of our team. We’re going to have to regroup next year.”
Despite losing those four key cogs, Agnew said that the Bobcats won’t be rebuilding next season. They’ll be “reloading.”
The Bobcats return all of their defensive players, giving Ohio an experienced back line, with Morris very encouraged in the development of junior Duncan Green, who could be in a leadership role next season.
The offense also returns three of its top five scorers, with Agnew, freshman forward Michael Harris and freshman JD Howard all back on the squad next season.
ch203310@ohiou.edu
