History is not on Ohio’s side when it comes to playing Adrian.
Ohio (7-6) fell apart midway through Friday night’s game, falling to Adrian 7-1 in Bird Arena. The game marks Ohio’s second loss to Adrian this season. The Bobcats have also lost six times to the Bulldogs in the past 10 years.
Ohio got off to a better start in the first period than it did against Adrian on Thursday, but not much else went right for it after that. It fell apart in the second period, allowing Adrian to score on most its power plays.
If it wasn’t for all of Ohio’s penalties, Ohio coach Lionel Mauron thinks his team may have had a chance to win.
“I actually think five-on-five, that was probably our best game this season,“ Mauron said. “I've never lost a game 7-1 when I truly believed that (playing at) even strength we deserved to win.”
Ohio was sent to the penalty box 10 times throughout the game, totaling 23 penalty minutes. The Bobcats would have been fine if they were able to fight off Adrian during the power plays, but that was not the case. Adrian scored four goals during the second period, three of which were on a power play.
In the end, Adrian was better at capitalizing on opportunities than Ohio was. The Bulldogs were four-for-seven on power plays. Ohio was zero-for-two.
Whenever the Bobcats did have an opportunity to score on the power play, they committed their own penalties, canceling their advantage out. This was the tale of Friday’s game. Whenever the pendulum would swing in Ohio’s favor, something else would go wrong.
“Obviously the penalties, that cost us,“ Mauron said. “We need to fix it. We need to stick together as a team and bounce back.”
Ohio’s only goal of the game was scored in the first period by forward Nick Carretta. Fellow forward Drew Magyar set up the perfect pass to Carretta, who punched the puck straight into the goal. However, Adrian’s goalie, Noah Decottignies, was not going to let Ohio score again. Decottignies finished the game with 19 saves on 20 shots on goal.
Max Karlenzig was not as lucky for Ohio. He gave up the most goals he’s allowed in a single game this season.
Ohio is now 0-4 against teams also ranked in the top 10 of the American Collegiate Hockey Association. Although the numbers don’t paint Ohio in the best light, Mauron stands by his belief that Ohio can compete with some of ACHA’s best teams.
“(Adrian’s) not that much better than our team,” Mauron said. “I think that the penalties were just the story tonight.”
The losing woes continue for Ohio, and it will have to go into a new week on the wrong note yet again. Ohio is currently on its longest losing streak of the season, tallying its third loss in a row. The Bobcats will use the extra time they have this week to reset, and get ready for two new opponents next weekend.
“Now they get two days off, Mauron said. “They get to change their minds and get some positive thoughts in their heads. Monday, we get back to work and we have three days to prepare. We got to get back in the winning columns right away.”
