Things have not gone particularly well for the Ohio hockey team as of late. After dropping two close games to rival Penn State, they dropped two more against Robert Morris, giving them a four-game losing streak.
For the first time in three weeks, the Bobcats (10-5-0, 6-2 Central States Collegiate Hockey League) will play at home, where they are a perfect 6-0. Ohio coach Dan Morris said that playing at Bird Arena will be a relief for the team.
It was a tough three weeks on the road
he said. We lost four straight games by a goal and it was difficult getting guys confident.
Center Jim Fuhs echoed these sentiments and said that the Bobcats are excited to play in front of a home crowd.
It's great to be back at home because it's where we play our best hockey he said. We had a tough past couple of weeks and everyone is excited to play at home this weekend.
Tomorrow and Saturday night, the Bobcats will face off against the Kent State Golden Flashes in what Morris expects to be two highly contested games. The Golden Flashes coach, Jarrett Whidden, is a friend and former teammate of Morris.
They will threaten us offensively
if our defensive game is not up to par
Morris said. They always seem to play their best games against us.
Despite the many problems the Bobcats have faced throughout the past few weeks, Morris said that he has seen signs of improvement throughout this week in practice.
Our players have come back with a new outlook
and they appear very eager and hungry
he said.Fuhs added that the Bobcats have improved on remaining disciplined within their systems.
We are a very talented team
but very good teams play within their systems
he said. It all depends on execution within our system.
Goaltender Chris Carlson sustained a concussion in last week's series against Robert Morris, leaving him out of action for this weekend's series. Ryan Baksh will receive the majority of playing time between the pipes for this weekend's series.
While he did not see any action last weekend, Baksh had his most productive series against Penn State two weeks ago.
I am going to treat it like every other weekend and go out there and do my best
Baksh said. Hopefully we will get two wins this weekend and get our team turned around in the right direction.
