In the absence of their leading scorer, the Bobcats received production up and down their lineup in a victory over the Cyclones.
With leading scorer Michael Harris serving a one-game fighting suspension Friday because of a fight during Ohio's win over Robert Morris last weekend, the Bobcats needed to call on their depth to pick up the offensive production.
At even strength and on the power play, the Bobcats did enough to build a lead and hold off Iowa State’s late charge to win 5-3 at Bird Arena.
In the early stage of the third period, Ohio had built a 4-0 lead on goals from players in each of its top three lines.
None of the goals were fit for the highlight reel, but the Bobcats (17-3-1) scored through perfect execution of their system of crashing the net and creating chances via puck possession.
It didn’t take Harris’s wicked wrist shot or 220-pound body for guys such as second-liner Derek Rahme or third-liner Diego Breckenridge to throw the puck on net and occasionally get a favorable rebound.
“Our team is so deep,” Breckenridge said. “It’s just good for our team’s confidence that anyone can play any given night, and we can put the team on their back.”
Ohio made things happen on the power play, too, but only after adjusting its system to account for the absence of Harris.
Ohio coach Sean Hogan said his team ran its power play on the left side of the offensive zone to favor right-handed forwards Patrick Spellacy and Matt Rudin. That is a flipped method of the normal power play, which runs through the right side to benefit the one-time shot of the lefty Harris.
The result was two powerplay goals in four chances.
“We looked good, man,” Hogan said. “Then getting (Harris) back there tomorrow, and we put Rudin back on the second line just makes everything deeper.”
But Ohio allowed Iowa State back into the game midway through the third by giving up two goals in under 40 seconds. The second goal, making it a 4-2 game, came on the heels of an Ohio penalty call that Hogan was upset about.
He immediately called a timeout to calm down his team and his goalie, Aaron Alkema, who had been perfect to that point.
“I was getting riled up too because I didn’t like the calls they were having,” Hogan said. “(I said), ‘Listen we’re getting a little bit of the shaft here when it comes to power plays, but we’ve got to calm down.' ”
Ultimately, the four-goal cushion was enough for the Bobcats to escape with a victory. It was their third in three tries against the Cyclones this season, which has led to critical points in the Central States Collegiate Hockey League.
On Saturday, Ohio will welcome back its captain and top offensive weapon, Harris, with a chance to take all four regular season meetings against Iowa State (16-3-4).
“The hardest thing to do in our league, the CSCHL, is sweep … so we have to come out tomorrow ready to go,” Hogan said.
@JordanHorrobin
jh950614@ohio.edu
