For the Ohio hockey team, the best way to overcome both a tie and shootout loss to Illinois on Friday was to win the Central States Collegiate Hockey League title on Saturday.
Ohio (16-7-2) took six of eight points from Illinois this weekend to not only win the league title, but they also gained a first round bye in the American Collegiate Hockey Association Tournament.
It feels great
coach Dan Morris said. It's huge to get that first round bye since it means you only have to go through two days to get to the (national) championship game.
Ohio held the lead through most of the third period on Friday before Illinois was finally able to bring the game to a 3-3 tie just before the end of regulation. While Ohio took the ACHA points and an official ACHA tie in the game, CSCHL rules mandate that every game have a winner.
Through the first five-minute overtime period neither team scored and the game came down to a shootout.
That's something that we don't practice as much as other teams Morris said. We play a much better five-on-five game and maybe we don't do as well in a break away situation.
Illinois was able to score following an Ohio miss, and the Illinois team received the sudden death victory.
Following the 4-3 shootout loss Friday, Ohio never trailed in Saturday night's 3-2 win. By the time Joe Branco scored the third goal for the Bobcats in the third period, the team was up 3-1 and seemed ready for an easy victory.
Illinois, however, was not quite ready to concede its title hopes, as the team netted a second goal at 18:00 in the third period. Illinois pulled their goalie for the final two minutes of the game, but the Ohio defense was able to make a stand and take the win.
The way we bounced back on Saturday is a tribute to our team
assistant coach Ryan Walicki said. We accomplished one of our preseason goals
and it was another step forward.
With the team's 1-0-1 ACHA finish this weekend they are 3-0-1 in the last two weekends against No. 1 Penn State and No. 3 Illinois. With the new ACHA rankings coming out Friday, Ohio expects to make a move in the standings.
We had some bad luck with Illinois on Friday
forward Robbie Farmer said. But when we came in on Saturday we knew we had to make a statement about who the better team was. It was a big weekend
and we came through.
Ohio plays host to Fredonia State this weekend at Bird Arena. Following two weekends of playoff-type games, Walicki said the team must remain focused on the goals ahead.
We take the approach that it doesn't matter who we are playing
Walicki said. It's like we're playing ourselves every weekend from here on in. We have to prepare to play good hockey
and get ready for our playoff run.
Ohio takes on Fredonia State at 7:30 on Friday and Saturday night in Bird Arena.
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