LYNCHBURG, Va. — For 40 minutes Jimmy Thomas was on his head. Liberty skaters penetrated the Ohio zone as if it was just them on the ice. Offensive surge after offensive surge, the Flames only had two goals to show for it.
The reason why Liberty only had two goals to show for its mostly offensive dominant performance? Thomas played his best game of the season as No. 6 Ohio defeated No. 8 Liberty, 3-2, in a dramatic come-from-behind fashion.
Thomas, who posted a .937 percentage, stood tall between the pipes for the Bobcats in Friday night’s road win.
He credited the team’s lethargic start to “bus legs.”
“Every time you come off a bus you’re going to have bus legs,” Thomas said. “We usually travel day of game and sit on a bus for seven hours and your legs get sore. It’s a very long day, but Saturday the bus legs are gone.”
The “bus legs” were evident as the Bobcats sleepwalked through the first two periods of the game. The Flames took advantage of the Bobcats’ slumbering state and dominated for two-thirds of the game.
They didn’t, however, have the most dominant player on the ice.
While the Flames drove and controlled the puck in Ohio’s zone, either a glove, a pad or a stick demised the end of any scoring chance they had.
For some goalies, seeing your opponent consistently come at you could be unpleasant, but Thomas enjoys the rush and expected it Friday.
“They played really well tonight,” he said. “That’s just their mentality, they’re go-go-go, they’re just a very fast-paced and energetic team.”
Thomas matched Liberty’s energy, and coach Sean Hogan was quick to notice.
“Jimmy was awesome as always, he bailed us out of a lot of errors,” Hogan said. “It was a very sluggish game, we just had to let them play it out.”
Hogan said that defensive lapse on Ohio’s end forced Thomas to play as well as he did.
It’s the same defensive lapse that it experienced a week ago against No. 4 Davenport. Regardless of what errors were made, the Bobcats’ gem lies in between the pipes. Thomas is one of the most talented goalies in the American Collegiate Hockey Association, and it showed, as he only let in two goals on 32 shots.
Ohio’s third period, highlighted by three unanswered goals, was Thomas’ best as the Flames pulled their goalie for an extra-man advantage. But at the sound of the final horn, it was Ohio who skated away with its arms raised high, and Thomas had the biggest smile of them all.
“There’s always a battle with Liberty and you’ve got to know that,” he said. “But we came away with a win.”
