Winter intersession provided students a 6-week respite from the classroom, but the Bobcats did not rest until they had climbed atop the Central States Collegiate Hockey League.
Ohio (24-2-1, 11-1-0 CSCHL) maintained its ice presence three weeks into the break, pushing its winning streak to 15 games before dropping its 2009 finale to Kent State.
Prior to falling to the Flashes, the Bobcats had won nine straight road games, including an impressive sweep of previously-undefeated No. 1 Lindenwood. Ohio outscored its opponents 86-25 during that run.
The Bobcats went 5-1 after the end of Fall Quarter.
It's a tough adjustment because they're out of their daily routine
coach Dan Morris said. We deal with it every year. Everybody responds differently.
Morris added that the team skated in smaller squads in addition to the regular team practice.
You come together as a team at that time he said.
While the Bobcats were able to dedicate more time to hockey and each other, the fatigue of playing 13 weekends in a row while attending both classes and practice eventually caught up to them at Kent State.
The Flashes earned a split of the series, sending the Bobcats into their break with a 3-2 loss.
We were mentally a little spent Morris said. We had some tough games. We were due for a letdown.
We gave ourselves a chance to win. We just didn't have enough in the tank.
The team fulfilled its goals of being in first place in the CSCHL and having a top-five ACHA ranking. In the latest rankings
Ohio had the most first-place votes
but remained second to Lindenwood.
ACHA coaches place their votes based on seven factors
including a computer ranking and strength of schedule
Morris said. Although the computer ranked the Bobcats atop the league
some coaches ranked them lower than first or second place.
According to the calculations, some people didn't even rank us second, Morris said. That's a little questionable.
The Bobcats have 14 games left before postseason play
including six against CSCHL opponents. Ten of the contests will be played at Bird Arena
but all of Ohio's remaining opponents are ranked in the top 15 of the ACHA.
The final road trips are to No. 5 Penn State and No. 3 Illinois. The Icers gave the Bobcats their only home loss
and Ohio has not beaten Illinois in Champaign since 1996.
We haven't even hit the hard part of our schedule yet, Morris said.,",2,Sports,Michael Stainbrook,30061a.jpg,",",",",","
30060,2010-01-06 00:33:00,Health Nut: OU health plan leaves students under-covered,Understanding your health insurance is a task on par with visiting the Bureau of Motor Vehicles - an arduous process that makes most of us want to rip out clumps of hair. But insurance is more than a box to check on your list of health needs.,Understanding your health insurance is a task on par with visiting the Bureau of Motor Vehicles - an arduous process that makes most of us want to rip out clumps of hair. But insurance is more than a box to check on your list of health needs.
Rather than waxing vitriolic about the many ways health insurance companies line their pockets with your premiums (which is not necessarily the whole story)
