Ohio traveled 1,900 miles to the great southwest this weekend only to realize there was a grand canyon between them and two Arizona schools.
The Bobcats dropped all three games on their only trip of the season to the Mountain time zone, losing to Arizona Thursday night before third-ranked Arizona State showed it deserved its ranking by beating the fifth-ranked ’Cats Friday and Saturday, marking the first time in the last six seasons Ohio has lost all three games in a single weekend.
The lengthy journey, accompanied by the fact both Arizona schools are very good teams, was a potent recipe for the Bobcats’ letdown.
“Mentally maybe it did, I’m not naive enough to think that it doesn’t,” coach Dan Morris said of the negative affects of the long trip out. “I don’t want to take anything away from Arizona and Arizona State’s effort but if you’re looking for a reason why we didn’t play the best we could, that could be one of them.”
Thursday’s game in Tucson was a slow burner, with both teams holding each other scoreless for the first 40 minutes, only the second time Ohio has failed to score in the first two periods all season.
However, Arizona lit the lamp twice just 16 seconds apart early in the third to put the Bobcats in a deep hole. Nick Rostek got one back with just four minutes to play, and Morris pulled goalie Brendan Madden as Ohio went all-out to even things up. But it wasn’t to be, and Arizona put one in the empty net with just a second remaining for a 3-1 win.
Contrasting enormously with Thursday’s game, Friday’s match up in Phoenix got off to a high-flying start. Unfortunately for Ohio, all of that came from the home team as Arizona State quickly put three past Teddy Dushkin before Craig Myeroff got one back for Ohio late in the opener. It was the freshman defenseman’s first ever goal as a Bobcat.
The game remained 3-1 heading into the third, when Ohio scored in the first minute to close the gap to 3-2.
The teams then traded goals, and the Bobcats drew a penalty with 2:37 remaining. They also pulled Dushkin to make it 6-on-4, but couldn’t net the tying goal in the hectic closing seconds in a 4-3 defeat.
The Bobcats again fell behind in the first on Saturday when ASU’s Danny McAuliffe beat Dushkin just five minutes in. Unlike Friday, this time Ohio put the clamps on and got one back through Rostek early in the second to make it 1-1.
“We’re getting great play out of Nick Rostek particularly,” Morris said of his top-line winger. “He’s working hard and he’s playing well and when teams key on (Tyler) Pilmore and (Michael) Schultz and Rostek is out there, he’s going to be the beneficiary of that.
“He’s doing his job and putting the puck into the back of the net.”
The Sun Devils then turned up the pace, scoring four straight in the second and third for an overwhelming 5-1 lead. Rostek got one back late in the third, but it was a stat-packer as Arizona State got their second big win and sent Ohio back on the flight to Athens empty handed.
With the two losses to ASU, Ohio is now 0-5 against other teams ranked in the top-five of the ACHA rankings this season, having also lost games to Delaware and Penn State by big score lines.
The Bobcats have been outscored 27-10 in those five games, a worrying stat for a team wanting to win the whole thing come March.
“It doesn’t concern me, but hopefully we can use it as motivation because those are teams we’ll need to beat down the road later one,” Morris said of the struggles against top competition. “If we see them, we’ve got some motivation to beat them.”
After the long unpleasant trip to Arizona, the Bobcats will look to close out the fall portion of their schedule on a much brighter note and a little closer to home this weekend when they travel upstate for a pair of games with Central States Collegiate Hockey League rival Kent State.
The games will be key, Morris said, not just for the CSCHL points but also to get his team back on track.
“They can be probably the two most important games of our season up to this point,” he said. “We have to bounce back, we have to get our confidence back and win games on the road.”
Quick Stats
Thursday
OHIO 1 Arizona 3
Bobcat goal scorers: Rostek
Friday
OHIO 3 Arizona State 4
Saturday
OHIO 2 Arizona State 5
Bobcat goal scorers: Rostek (2)
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