Ohio's first road game of the season resulted in its first loss.
After seeing Ohio dominate four straight home games to begin its season, the question many people had was whether they would be able to keep up that kind of performance on the road.
The temporary answer fans got on Saturday wasn’t one they were hoping for.
The Bobcats fell 1-0 at West Virginia on Saturday afternoon, suffering their first loss of the season on their first road game. Ohio blew out the Mountaineers on Friday in Bird Arena by a score of 8-1.
“I don’t think we played poorly,” coach Sean Hogan said of Saturday’s loss. “I think the effort was there, and I didn’t think there was much of a difference between how we played Friday and how we played Saturday. I think the major difference was what they did. They blocked over 30 shots, and just kind of crashed in front of the net. We just couldn’t score.”
West Virginia scored its only goal less than three minutes into the first period. Ohio began the game with a penalty thanks to last-minute lineup change that wasn’t communicated to the officials, but went on to kill the Mountaineers’ power play.
However, about 40 seconds after the power play ended, a shot from Tyler Collard bounced off two different players and slipped past the Bobcats’ goaltender, sophomore Ryan Heltion.
From then on Ohio was in control, showing off stout defense and puck control they have been able to capitalize on all season. Despite that, they were never able to get a game-tying shot past the Mountaineers strong defense, headed by goalie Eric Schaetzle.
The defeat marked an end to what was a 14-game win streak for the Bobcats over West Virginia, and a five-game winning streak to begin the season.
The shutout on the road was a complete 180-degree turn from the eight-goal assault Ohio dealt Friday, where eight Bobcats scored goals.
Derek Rahme got the scoring started for the Bobcats Friday during a power play in the first period, with Nathan De La Torre following not long after with another goal to give Ohio a 2-0 lead with 8:12 to play in the first.
That lead doubled quickly in the second period when Tom Whetsel and Adam Steranko scored back-to-back goals within 20 seconds of each other to bust open the game 4-0. Tyler Benson added another goal by the period’s end, while the Mountaineers also finally got on the board, giving the game a 5-1 score at the end of the second period.
Three Ohio players scored in the final period, as Joe Breslin, Patrick Spellacy and Paul Sergi each added a goal.
“We played pretty well Friday,” Hogan said. “We got a little bit sloppy once we got a big lead, but defensively, I think we’re a very good team. We don’t give up hardly any opportunities, and that’s how we’re going to be successful in the long run.”
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