A mere 75 seconds away from overtime, an Ohio-Penn State face off in the Bobcats' zone led to a shot goalie Ryan Baksh barely saw and the rest of the Bobcats on the ice will see every time they close their eyes.
They took the shot
and I went down Baksh said. Someone stuck their stick out at the last second and it went off the top of the shaft
changed direction on me and went into the top corner. Last year they complained about our goal that beat them going off a foot; it must be karma. Late goals proved to be the downfall of No. 3 seed Ohio in their 3-1 loss to archrival Penn State in the semifinals of the 2005 American Collegiate Hockey Association Tournament.
After senior Nick Bassarab scored to give the Bobcats a 1-0 lead with five minutes remaining in the first period, Ohio watched its lead disappear when constant pressure from the No. 2 seed Icers in the second stanza produced the game-tying goal with less than two minutes remaining before the intermission.
Penn State scored the insurance goal into an empty Ohio net with seven seconds remaining to crush the Bobcats' hopes of repeating as ACHA champs.
We had a nice play on the power play early in the third period
coach Dan Morris said. We ran it perfect
and Travis (Preble) hit the cross bar. It could have been 2-1
we did everything right and put the puck right where we wanted it. It could have been the difference in the game. Despite the loss, there was still hockey to be played by the Bobcats. No. 1 seed Rhode Island -upset by No. 4 seed Illinois in the other semifinal game -and Ohio met in the consolation game on Sunday to battle for third place.
A goal from Dennis Belkin gave the Bobcats an early lead before the Rams came back to tie the game, but Rhode Island made it a game near the halfway mark of the second period.
With less than two minutes remaining, Josh Granum found the back of the net to give Ohio the late lead. Brandon Steffek scored into an empty Rams' net to give Ohio a 3-1 upset victory.
Earlier in the tournament, the Bobcats experienced success before meeting up with the Icers, stretching their winning streak to 15 with an 8-3 win in the opening round against No. 14 Mercyhurst and a 2-0 victory over No. 6 Michigan Dearborn in the quarterfinals.
Four games in four days is not an easy thing to do
Morris said. When a team like Dearborn plays us that tough
it's very difficult to conserve energy for the next game. The win against the Rams was the last for eight Ohio seniors: Matt Gallagher, Sean Gallagher, Rico Day, Bassarab, Joe Branco, Paul Guthrie, Daniel Richardson and Granum.
It's tough for the seniors
Morris said. Everyone wants to go out on top. Baksh was stellar in net throughout the tournament for the Bobcats, stopping 114 of 121 pucks that threatened the Ohio net and earning a shut out against Michigan Dearborn in the semifinals when he stopped all 23 shots.
In my opinion Baksh was the best goalie there at the national tournament
Morris said.
Despite all of the success of the season, the loss to the Icers is stuck in the minds of Morris and his players.
Most of the guys are pretty disappointed
