Ohio has only let the other team score first eight times this season, and only three of those eight games resulted in a loss. Despite grappling with low energy and lack of structure in the second and third periods, the Bobcats almost always come out of the gate hot.
In its Feb. 3 game against Minot State, Ohio let one in 13 minutes into the first period. They responded five minutes later with two goals of their own.
It was the same story when the Bobcats played Stony Brook earlier this season. They gave the Seawolves only three minutes before getting a goal of their own on the board.
A common denominator in these examples is Luc Reeve, Ohio’s star forward and the leading scorer in the American Club Hockey Association. He scored the Bobcats first goal in the Minot State game, the Stony Brook game and again Saturday against Robert Morris.
When the Colonials snuck one by Bobcat goaltender Justin Damon just over three minutes into the first period, Reeve was far from phased.
“I didn’t really think of it that much, I just put it out of my head and kept playing,” Reeve said.
5 minutes later, he smacked one past the Colonials’ goalkeeper and got the Bobcats on the board.
“I was just trying to get one back quick and trying to change the momentum to get it going our way again,” said Reeve.
Momentum plays a huge role for the Bobcats and was one of the main reasons why Reeve wanted to create some action.
“Momentum is huge, especially in our rink. When we have a nice crowd, they get loud so if we can score for them it’s really a nice boost,” he said.
It was much easier for the Bobcats to pick up momentum on Saturday, especially since they weren’t strapped for players.
“We had four full lines, so that is a big difference from last weekend. We also had six defenseman and last weekend we only had four, so everything worked out well,” Ohio head coach Lionel Mauron said.
Another thing the Bobcats improved upon was their line changes, which allowed them to continue to play hard and expand their lead against the Colonials.
“Everybody kept their shifts short and that made us able to have energy throughout the game,“ Mauron said. “I think they were very tired by the end of the game, it’s hard when you defend for 15 minutes and I think we took advantage of that.”
The Bobcats have also been working on staying focused, even if they don’t score first.
“We’re not letting little things get us down, we’re bouncing back. We had full possession for a while and then they scored that one goal, but we just stayed with what we were doing and came out with a big dub,” Reeve said.
Andrew Wells, who completed a hat trick against the Colonials, echoed that sentiment.
“Recently we’ve been playing with a lot of confidence,“ Wells said. "Sometimes they’re gonna score the first goal, but we were happy with the way we were playing. The message on the bench was just stay focused. We know if we keep playing our way it’s going to work out for us."
And it did work out, as the Bobcats ran away with an 11-2 victory against the Colonials.
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