After a pair of victories last weekend, Ohio was looking to continue its hot streak against Alabama, and they accomplished just that.
The Bobcats’ offensive power was completely unmatchable as they secured another 9-2 victory in front of the home crowd in Bird Arena.
The Bobcats had brushed the rust off after last weekend’s series, and felt prepared coming into their matchup against the Crimson Tide.
“Saturday last weekend was very good … and we had a really good week of practice, I was pretty confident going into this game for sure,” Ohio coach Lionel Mauron said.
After some errors last weekend, Mauron was happy to see improvement, but believes there is still room to grow.
“I think we’re getting more structured and more disciplined, but we need to find more consistency,” he said.
The Bobcats were scoring machines in the first period, securing four goals in eight minutes against the Crimson Tide and not allowing any. John McLaughlin got the scoring action started, maneuvering around the Alabama defense and sliding the puck into the goal. He was later taken out with a shoulder injury after sustaining an intense hit further into the first period. Less than a minute later, Laker Aldridge put the Bobcats up by two. Aiden Grieco then scored two goals on the power play, leaving the Bobcats up 4-0 at the end of the first period.
The second period was a welcome repeat of the first for the Bobcats, as they put two more goals on the board and still allowed zero from the Tide. Hollander Thompson scored early on, with thunderous roars from the crowd. JT Schimizzi was next, with Luc Reeve garnering his second assist of the night on the goal.
The third period saw Ohio let go defensively and allow two goals from Alabama. Mauron believes this was because of the inability to recover the puck in the neutral zone.
“We give them too much time to transition against us … so I think we can be more organized to get the puck back quicker,” Mauron said.
The Bobcats weren’t done on offense just yet, scoring three more goals to increase their already significant lead against the Crimson Tide. Grieco secured this third of the night and completed a hat trick, while Reeve and Collin Felton scored the other two.
Heading into tomorrow night’s rematch, the Bobcats are hoping to complete yet another weekend sweep and continue to tighten up offensively
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