Ohio cruised past Canisius this weekend in Bird Arena, outscoring the Golden Griffins 16-3 and extending its winning streak to five games.
On Friday, the Bobcats beat the Golden Griffins 5-0, riding the hot goaltending of freshman Ryan Heltion, who was inserted back into the net after sophomore goalie Aaron Alkema started the previous four games.
“They’re making me look good,” coach Jonathon Sheridan said. “I think Alkema looked a little tired at the end of last week, so it was just time to put in Heltion. He always works hard. Our goalies always push each other in practice and they give every guy support.”
Friday’s contest saw senior forward Brett Agnew pitch in a goal and a couple assists. Junior defenseman Mike Kretz also kept up his recent scoring pace with a goal and an assist, while Heltion stopped all 28 shots he faced.
One name that didn’t pop up on the score sheet was sophomore forward Derek Rhame, but Rhame was creating chances all over the ice, as well as playing solid defense. Rhame made the transition from defenseman to forward this season, and Sheridan was impressed with his game.
“I think now he’s in that comfort zone where he knows what to do,” Sheridan said. “He’s always been a hard worker, now he’s enjoying what he’s doing. He really feeds off the guys when they give him support. He’s found his niche on the team and he’s running with it.”
Saturday, Canisius jumped out to a 2-0 lead less than two minutes into the game, but Sheridan yanked junior goalie Scott Boyd and replaced him with Alkema.
The Bobcats proceeded to score 10 consecutive goals in what amounted to an 11-3 win.
“We had to pull Scottie Boyd out of there. Not something I wanted to do, but felt like I had to do something,” Sheridan said. “They came ready to play, if they would’ve popped another one in, it would’ve been a completely different game. But I think our guys realized when Scottie was pulled that we had to do something a little different. The guys knew we left him high and dry and we had to get it back for him.”
Sophomore forward Garrett Williams scored a team-high of five points in the contest, while Agnew completed his weekend with a hat trick and added an assist. Agnew racked up a total of seven points over the weekend.
Freshman Patrick Spellacy pitched in a pair of goals and assists, and Alkema stopped 18-of-19 shots after he was put into the game early in the first period.
During the second period, the teams began playing a much more physical game, which culminated with Rahme being put into a headlock by junior Canisius forward Michael Mangone.
Rahme flipped Mangone over by his legs and both were ejected.
“That’s hockey, they have to do what they can to get our guys off and if that’s how they feel it’s fine,” Sheridan said. “Happens to the best of us and it’s kind of on our guys to stay out of that and not get into it, so it is what it is. It’s hockey, the game we love, and I’m fine with it.”
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Fast Facts: Updated Bobcats’ scoring leaders
1: Brett Agnew: 8 goals, 5 assists, 13 points
2: Joe Breslin: 6 goals, 7 assists, 13 points
3: Patrick Spellacy: 5 goals, 5 assists, 10 points
