COLUMBUS, Ohio— Ohio began playing in the Tri-States Collegiate Hockey League championship shortly after 12:30 p.m. It didn’t finish playing till around 4:00 p.m.
The Bobcats battled through nearly five periods, but did not get the result they wanted. They fell 4-3 to Indiana in double overtime at Taft Coliseum on Sunday. Despite the disappointing loss, the game wasn’t all bad for the Bobcats.
Indiana was the defending TSCHL Champions, so Ohio knew it had a challenge ahead of it before the game. In addition, it had already lost to Indiana once this year.
The Bobcats put any doubts they may have had behind them and came out for the first period ready to play. Despite spending the majority of the first period in their defensive zone, they kept the Hoosiers scoreless with the help of multiple big saves from goalie Matthew Zazon.
Ohio started to break away from Indiana after Nick Erker scored with 8:06 left in the first. When Ohio came back out for the second period, Peyton Botich scored to give the Bobcats a strong 2-0 lead.
However, the lead did not stand for long and the second period went downhill from there. Indiana scored just seconds after Ohio’s second goal to cut the lead back to one. Tensions grew between the two teams after the goal, as punches were thrown behind the net.
The roughness led to the first penalties of the game being called on both teams. During the resulting 4-on-4 play, Indiana scored again. It scored a third goal with 9:51 remaining in the second period to take its first lead of the game.
The Bobcats knew they needed to change something in the third period to have a chance at winning the game. So, they improved their defense and kept the Hoosiers from scoring in the final period. Erker also scored his second goal of the afternoon to send the game into overtime.
Erker’s offensive impact was felt on Sunday, and Ohio would not have been in the game for as long as it was if it weren’t for him. Defenseman Donovan Tehan is thankful for Erker, who is his roommate, and was happy with his success in the championship game.
“He's just one of those guys you can always rely on to get us out of any situation, and he's always working his hardest,” Tehan said. “Luckily tonight for him, that energy and that work paid off for him.”
What followed regulation was almost 34 long minutes of overtime. Indiana came close to scoring multiple times in the first overtime, but Zazon was all over each of its shots. The first overtime looked a lot like the first period, as most of it was spent in front of Ohio’s net, but neither team scored.
It seemed like Ohio was regaining control of the game in the second overtime. However, Indiana scored a controversial goal that had to be discussed with 6:21 left in the second overtime. Tehan talked to the referees to get their perspective after the goal, but knew he didn’t have a great chance to change its status.
“Nine times out of 10 you're never gonna change the ref's mind, so I just had to eat it,” Tehan said.
Ohio’s dreams of its first TSCHL championship since 2018 were crushed after almost five tiring periods of play, but it still has a lot to be proud of. Ohio shattered the expectations of the league and won more than 20 games after winning just 15 last season. It also finished the regular season ranked No. 6 in the Southeast Division of the American Collegiate Hockey Association.
“You never like to lose in a championship game, but a bunch of the guys looked at it as more of a positive thing … just to make it this far really means a lot to us,” Tehan said.
