The Bobcats huddled in the locker room after their 7-3 victory over John Carroll, laughing and chanting, “Sweep! Sweep! Sweep!”
Sure, the Bobcats (2-0-0) were happy with the end result. How it got there, however, didn’t go smoothly. The score was uncomfortably close, and several mistakes made it significantly harder for Ohio to put away John Carroll (2-2-0).
The Blue Streaks presented a bigger threat to the Bobcats, despite their 14 shots on goal, than they should have. The Bobcats had 34 shots on the night and could only put reasonable distance between themselves and John Carroll in the final three minutes.
Ohio’s offense was sluggish for long stretches, and the game was scoreless through the first period. Games against the Blue Streaks in recent memory have never been as tight as it was on Saturday. Ohio was only up 3-2 going into the third period.
The Bobcats finally shook their funk and scored four goals in the span of three minutes with the game winding down. Freshman Andrew Sacca continued his hot start for Ohio after his two-goal performance Saturday night. He had three goals in his first weekend with the Bobcats.
“I’m just trying to do my job,” Sacca said. “I look to the leadership on this team, and they pushed through to get the boys going late in the game.”
Seniors led the way for scoring on Saturday. Tyler Harkins matched Sacca’s two goals and tacked on two assists. Gianni Evangelisti, Tom Pokorney and Timmy Thurnau scored their own goals through the night and kept the offense breathing.
Penalties played a crucial role for the second consecutive night. Kyle Craddick received a 10-minute penalty in the first period for game misconduct. Jake Houston also had a 10-minute penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct after disagreeing with an official’s call.
John Carroll found itself with plenty of time on the power play because of the Bobcats’ time spent in the box. Luckily for the Bobcats, John Carroll never capitalized on the power plays. They only managed to score on turnovers and small lapses in the Bobcats’ defense.
“A lot of things didn’t go our way,” coach Cole Bell said. “We had a couple undisciplined penalties that we would have liked to not have.”
Bell was confident in his team’s ability to keep their heads level and focus despite the penalties. He noted the positive energy on the bench never left, and that’s what helped the team pull through.
“We never wavered, and we stuck with it,” Bell said. “Good teams find a way to win, and that’s what we did today.”
Ohio returns to Bird Arena Oct. 4-5 where it’ll host Toledo. Puck drop is slated for 7:30 p.m. on both nights.
