The bumpy road doesn't get much smoother for Western Michigan.
In the Stallions' current stretch against Central States Collegiate Hockey League opponents, they have been swept by top-ranked Illinois and perennial powerhouse Iowa State.
This weekend they welcome the Bobcats to Kalamazoo.
Coach Chris Slater's team has dropped four straight games after being swept by the Illini and Cyclones.
Ohio is competing at a high level at home, going 10-2 in its last 12 games at Bird Arena.
Two impressive wins against Ohio State bumped the Bobcats record to 15-11-1, and put them in prime position to make a serious run in the league playoffs.
Ohio is playing stifling defense and has been relentless at checking the puck-two characteristics of playoff teams.
The Bobcats shut down the middle of the ice against Ohio State, and a similar effort against a frustrated Stallion team could cause problems.
(Ohio State) likes to move the puck through the neutral zone
Morris said. Our checking took that away.
We've worked on it in practice, getting guys to play better positional hockey. It's a small, neutral zone, and our guys are working at it.
The Stallions are led by the high-scoring duo of Aaron Moss and Sean McWhorter who have accounted for nearly 40 percent of their team's offensive production.
Morris will counter with captain Corey Bise or center Jordan Yoklic both of whom have played well.
Ohio sorely missed center and third-leading scorer J.J. Plutt
who returned from a lower-body injury last weekend and scored a pair of aesthetic goals.
He and leading scorer Ryan Tessmer didn't miss a beat on Ohio's top power-play unit. Tessmer also scored on the man advantage for his eighth goal of the season.
We made some adjustments (last weekend) out there, Morris said. The first couple (attempts), they were kind of lost.
After the first period
we ironed out some kinks and they're seeing the results.
The goaltending rotation is murkier than it was last weekend. Carlson started the first game against Ohio State and played well
but Marshall's near-shutout might make the decision difficult.
Western Michigan may choose to start Trevor Heffernan
who has allowed 16 goals in his last three starts. ,",2,Sports,Rob Mixer,26846b.jpg,",",",",","
26844,2009-01-30 00:35:00,Track and Field: 2 Ohio seniors excited for their season debut,Seniors Annie Beecham and Kari Summers will be racing for the first time this season in the Kent State Meet,Annie Beecham and Kari Summers have been waiting for this moment all season.
After resting for the first three meets
coach Clay Calkins is ready to unleash his two team captains when the Bobcats compete in the Kent Dual today.
It's been kind of weird [sitting on the sidelines], Beecham said. We've been sitting out since November. It'll be different to be running in a race again and going fast.
I'm excited.
Calkins and Mitch Bentley, the distance coach, have chosen to rest both runners after a cross country season that saw each compete in the Division I Cross Country Championships.
Beecham and Summers have continued to practice during their break from competition. They have been running circles around The Convo preparing for their first opportunity to get into a race.
The seniors' debuts couldn't have come at a better time.
This is going to be a big meet
Calkins said. We have two of our conference competition in Kent and Miami. Miami was picked to get that top three position in our conference.
We think we can compete.
Calkins will be playing the matchups.
I think we're a somewhat similar team to Kent, Calkins said. I think we're stronger in certain areas than Kent, and they are stronger in certain event areas than us.
With Calkins' two new weapons for the meet
the Bobcats' distance team should be even stronger.
It's our first meet back, Summers said. You're always nervous in your first race back.
After claiming first place in five events last week
the Bobcats will look to keep the momentum going.
Courtney Weiss was one of those top runners last week
