2018 has been anything but kind to Ohio.
The Bobcats suffered a pair of losses against Lindenwood in their return to the ice in the new year. The Bobcats fell 5-1 to the Lions on Saturday and 5-3 on Sunday in Wentzville, Missouri, but the pair of losses weren't the only negatives that plagued the Bobcats.
Forward Gianni Evangelisti and defenseman Jake Faiella suffered injuries on Saturday, and each was unable to return for Sunday's game. Evangelisti is Ohio's leading point (29) and goal (11) scorer and is tied for first on the team in assists (18). Faiella is the team captain.
Faiella is likely to return this weekend against Iowa State, but Evangelisti is expected to be out for "a while" with a separated shoulder, according to coach Sean Hogan.
Ohio was met with even more bad news when it returned to Athens on Monday. The compressors at Bird Arena are down, and the ice is not available for the team to practice. Hogan is hopeful that the issue, which put the ice in a "watery" condition, will be resolved in time for practice Wednesday.
"We definitely are facing even some more adversity," Hogan said. "We've had a lot of adversity this year. We lost an assistant coach over the break, and now we have a lot of guys hurt. Now, we come back and the ice isn't ready to go. We need to find a way to get some wins against Iowa State this weekend and get back on track."
Sunday
Ohio's frustrations continued early on Sunday, as the Bobcats gave up three Lindenwood goals in the game's first 14 minutes and trailed 4-1 after 20 minutes of play.
The first two of Lindenwood's goals came from avoidable breakaways.
"I don't think we followed the game plan," Hogan said. "We needed to change our forecheck up for the second game and branch out those forwards, and we just did not do that for the first 10 minutes of the game. We weren't doing it, and they exposed it and got in behind our defensemen twice."
After the rough start, goalie Jimmy Thomas shutout the Lions in the second period and gave the Bobcats a chance to climb back. Forward Matt Rudin took the opportunity and scored two goals in the second period to cut the deficit to one goal heading into the final period.
The Bobcats outshot Lindenwood 9-1 in the third period, but the dominant offensive showing wasn't enough to pull Ohio ahead. The Bobcats failed to score again, and the Lions scored an empty-net goal with 48 seconds remaining to seal the win and sweep.
"We had tons of chances, tons of opportunities" Hogan said. "We hit a few posts, and we just couldn't find the net."
Saturday
Ohio's first game of 2018 looked identical to the Bobcats' previous Central States Collegiate Hockey League games — four of Ohio's six CSCHL games this season were decided by three goals or less. The Bobcats were tied with Lindenwood 1-1 after two periods, and another tight finish seemed imminent.
But Ohio collapsed in the third period.
The Lions tallied four goals, two on the power play, to put away the frustrated Bobcats, who committed four penalties in the final 10 minutes of the period and allowed Lindenwood to pull ahead for a 5-1 victory.
The peak of Saturday's frustrations occurred when defenseman Tom Pokorney was assessed a head contact major for punching a player. He was disqualified from the game and was suspended for Sunday's game.
"We've got to control our emotions," Hogan said. "We've got to do a better job of that. We can't put ourselves in situations where it's going to make it harder for us to come back. That was the story of Saturday."
Up next
No. 3 Ohio (17-6-1) will look to avenge its rough start to the year on Friday and Saturday at home against No. 12 Iowa State (11-10-1). Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m. on both days.
