Ryan Higgins slammed Austin Huizenga of Calvin against the ice over and over, refusing to stop even after officials tried to pry the two apart.
Higgins was then thrown from the game.
It was only the second period, and that was Ohio’s third ejection of the night.
“I wish I could say what caused it,” coach Cole Bell said. “I would say for some people on that ice, the moment got too big.”
Higgins was one of the many who left the ice early Saturday in Ohio’s 4-3 loss to Calvin. Forwards Kyle Craddick and Shawn Baird and goalie Jimmy Thomas were all sent to the locker room after fights sprang up one after the other in the middle period. Two team brawls within five minutes of each other sent Bird Arena into a frenzy.
Baird was the only one of the four to return for the rest of the game. The other three had changed into street clothes and either watched from the bleachers or stayed in the locker room. Tom Pokorney, Jacob Houston and Tyler Harkins were also disqualified later.
The second period in Bird Arena was pure bedlam. One-hundred-and-seven minutes of penalties were issued between the Bobcats and Knights in that period alone.
The first period had one penalty: a five-minute major against Baird for boarding.
At the end of the game, Ohio limped off the ice with 130 total minutes in penalties.
Ohio (13-6-3) spent a majority of the second period dealing with a nonstop penalty kill that kept extending as the infractions piled on one after another. There was only a total of four minutes and 19 seconds in the middle period where the Bobcats weren’t down a man or more.
“We were dealt a great deal of adversity,” Bell said. “Obviously we lost, but the guys dealt with it. Not a victory on the scoreboard, but we rose to the challenge.”
If there was a bright side to Saturday’s loss, it was Ohio’s ability to dig in. Despite nearly 16 full minutes on the penalty kill, Ohio kept Calvin (11-2-2) away from the crease through sheer force. Calvin didn’t score until the final three minutes of the period. Had the Bobcats not held as firmly as they did, the Knights could have won by a much larger margin.
The Bobcats even managed to score while on the penalty kill, but that goal was waived after Higgins was tossed.
“I know it’s cliche to say, but it’s a moral victory,” Bell said.” The passion, the willingness to battle and overcome was a great job by the guys.”
Saturday was the ugliest spot on Ohio’s season thus far. Aggression may be Ohio’s forte, but the Bobcats won’t win when that aggression causes more penalty minutes than actual minutes in a game. Six disqualifications never help, either.
Penalties have been Ohio’s Achilles’ heel. Calvin took advantage of it for the sweep.
