For a hockey player, there's no better feeling than knowing you have a chance to redeem yourself.
The Bobcats were frustrated after being swept by Penn State last weekend and, because of that, this short week comes at an ideal time.
Ohio travels to South Charleston, W. Va., tonight to face the Mountaineers, who never receive any favors from the Bobcats. The games are traditionally high-octane.
It presents a great opportunity for Ohio to let out some of that frustration on the heels of back-to-back losses.
Physical and gritty, the Mountaineers (9-5-3) can score goals, but frequently give up their fair share.
West Virginia doesn't have a single 20-point scorer on their roster, yet have scored five goals or more in eight games.
We don't score a lot of goals
said coach Dan Morris. We're trying to change our game to make the most of our opportunities. It's probably going to be a low-scoring affair.
Morris spent a lot of time in practice this week emphasizing the importance of improving Ohio's power play, which went scoreless against Penn State.
We've tried to force way too much (on the power play) winger Billy Hemann said. We need to shoot more pucks and get guys in front. We've tried to make the pretty play and we're not that kind of team.
Mountaineer coach Jeff Anderson has ridden starting goaltender Chris Wilder harder this season. After starting in only seven games last year, Wilder has received the nod for 17 of the team's 18 games.
Throughout the first half of the season, Wilder boasts 3.63 average goals allowed and only one shutout.
A quick start similar to Saturday night's contest with Penn State would go a long way toward a victory for Ohio. By firing a lot of shots early, the Bobcats threw the Icers out of their system. A similar approach could be trouble for West Virginia.
Shoot the puck more
Hemann said. These are a couple big games for us coming up. Hopefully
we can get our confidence going again and get back on track.
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