ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Alternate captain Mike Palasics was Ohio’s hero Friday night.
The senior found a way to score his first goal of the year, and it was the one that changed the game.
In a sloppy battle against Navy, with the score tied at two entering the third period, Ohio's transition defense came into play as Palasics stole the puck.
Off the sticks of Timmy Thurnau and Cody Black, Palasics knew what he had to do.
“That thing was going in the net,” Palasics said. “There was no way I was missing it.”
Up a goal only 1:09 into the third period, the momentum had suddenly and noticeably shifted from the Midshipmen to the Bobcats.
Palasics opened the floodgates, and soon enough Ohio scored three more times – including an empty-netter – in the final period of play. A 6-2 win on paper looked like an easy one for the Bobcats, but in reality it was anything but.
Navy held Ohio scoreless in the first period of play, and, even though the Bobcats outshot the Midshipmen 14-3, there were little answers to be found. The quick start Ohio has become accustomed to in the first few weeks of the new year did not occur.
Playing their first road game of the year, the Bobcats had to adapt to playing on an Olympic-sized hockey rink, a rink that largely outsizes their home ice at Bird Arena.
“Playing on that ice was an adjustment,” coach Sean Hogan said. “It hurt us not offensively, but defensively.”
Navy’s first goal of the night came off a power play goal, and in space Ohio isn’t used to having normally.
“We had chances to kill it (the penalty) and opportunities to get in the lanes, but we just didn’t,” Hogan said.
Palasics also credits a mental lapse in the Bobcats' unusual sluggish play, having said at times the team was too “lackadaisical” in doing the little things Ohio normally succeeds at.
While at the end of the day a win is a win, the Bobcats know they can do better.
“We gotta make those corrections,” Hogan said. “It’s one thing to tell the guys, it’s another thing to teach them.”
The second game of Ohio's weekend series with Navy starts Saturday at 7:30 p.m., and the Bobcats hope they can apply Friday’s lesson into another victory Saturday.
