Friday
Ohio opened its weekend with a 3-0 win over the University of Louisville. Both teams lacked the offensive presence they hoped to bring with them into the first period. After chasing each other up and down the ice and exchanging shots on goal, the period came to a 0-0 close.
The second period would be more of the same. Both teams tried to establish a more physical presence. No one would score until Ohio forward Salvatore Poggiali broke past the Louisville defense for a one-on-one opportunity against Louisville goalie Nick Digiacomo. The Bobcats would take their 1-0 lead with them into the locker room.
Ohio would save its best for last as they would put this game away in the third period. Forward Nik Jozefiak would open the third with a quick goal to make it 2-0. The third period would be a lot rougher than the first two. Ohio would boast eight penalties throughout the third period. Jozefiak made his presence known once more off an assist from defenseman Trent Johnson with just over 10 minutes remaining.
Ohio would go on to win the game 3-0. It was goalie Matthew Zazon’s first shutout of the season. The matchup did not turn out to be the offensive matchup it looked like it could have been. Ohio set the tone physically for the weekend.
Saturday
The Bobcats were back in action Saturday night in Louisville. Despite the lack of successful offensive play in the first game, both teams gave fans the performance they expected to see. Ohio’s offensive performance would earn a 4-3 victory over Louisville.
The beginning of the first period looked very similar to Friday night’s game, with a lot of skating up and down the ice and no scoring. The Cardinals would finally get their first goal of the game and the weekend late in the first period. Dalton Karl scored his first goal of the game off an assist from Cam Costa. Louisville would take its only lead of the entire weekend into the locker room with them.
In the second period, the Bobcats seemed to finally wake up offensively. Winger Nolan Herubin got the Ohio offense going with a goal off an assist from forward Brennen Walker. This would be the beginning of the Bobcats’ offensive attack, but they would spend the majority of the rest of the period down a man. Forward Salvatore Poggiali picked up a 5-minute penalty for throwing an elbow.
Despite being down a man, center Xander Danner lengthened the Bobcat lead. Ohio finally found itself at full strength with 2:16 remaining in the period. Winger Ryley Scanlon apparently couldn’t stand to watch his team go into the intermission only up 2-1, so he scored a goal with a single second left on the clock.
The Cardinals showed a lot more fight against the Bobcats in the third period. Ohio kept calm with its two-goal lead. Karl and Costa would connect once more to shorten the Bobcat lead to one goal. That didn’t last long though, as Jozefiak kept his weekend going when he scored his third goal of the series with 7 minutes remaining.
However, Louisville wasn’t quite finished. The Cardinals made the most of a Bobcat penalty and pushed one past Zazon to make it a 3-4 game. Ohio would hold on to its lead in the final minutes to bring a series sweep and a four-game winning streak back to Athens.
