COLUMBUS — Sophomore goalie Jimmy Thomas stepped out of locker room three at the Ohio Health Ice Haus exhausted and speechless.
“I’m pretty tired right now,” Thomas said. “Sometimes you just have got to stick things out.”
That's exactly what Thomas and the No. 4 Bobcats did in their first game in the 2018 American Collegiate Hockey Association National Tournament in a 3-2 overtime victory over No. 13 University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Thomas, for a majority of Friday afternoon’s game, spent his time in his crease, blocking shots, calling out plays and systems and a little heckling directed towards the Rebels.
Two-thirds of the way through a shutout on the national stage, Thomas let in two UNLV goals in the third period. UNLV’s first goal was scored on a one-timer off of a faceoff that breezed right by Thomas’ right skate and into the back of the net.
The Rebels second goal, in response to Bobcats forward Gabe Lampron’s goal, was scored as a result of a net-front scramble that the Rebels capitalized on.
“They got a couple of lucky ones in the third, but that’s the reason why you can never give up,” Thomas said. “I don’t know what happened, our guys were just tired.”
UNLV had multiple opportunities to put the game away in both the third period and overtime. A series of tic-tac-toe passes in the third period led to a wide-open net, again on Thomas’ stick side. Fortunately for Ohio, the shot dinged off the goal post. And after sophomore forward Gianni Evangelisti was called for a cross-check during overtime, the Rebels power play ripped off a few quality shots.
Shots that Thomas has seen all year long.
“I had to go over to Jimbo and celebrate because he played a hell of a game,” Lampron said. “We just tell him ‘keep rolling Jimmy, you’re playing great.’”
Lampron, who scored the game-winning goal after a series of deflections, made note of how active his goalie was throughout the game both mentally and physically.
“Usually goalies are pretty weird and don’t talk much throughout the game,” Lampron said. “Jim is smiling throughout every period and he’s always got a great attitude, I think he knows that we rely on him a lot and that he always comes to play in big games.”
For how well Thomas has played, as the Bobcats advance farther into the tournament, his game will have to advance as well. Luckily for him, he’s led the nation in minutes played and has played against some of the nation’s best teams, four of which are in the national tournament.
With a Saturday bye on the horizon, Thomas and the rest of the Bobcats can relax, for now.
Ohio will face the winner of Saturday’s quarterfinal game between No. 5 Illinois and No. 13 Jamestown. The top 4 seeds get a Saturday bye.
