Kent State has been full of surprises this season, and it will need another this weekend to stake its claim for a national tournament bid.
The No. 15 Flashes boast impressive wins over top-five programs, including a Dec. 12 win against Ohio; but several regrettable losses have kept them from achieving a higher American Collegiate Hockey Association ranking.
Kent has defeated Central States Collegiate Hockey League powerhouses Lindenwood, University of Illinois, and Ohio once, and Iowa State twice.
However, ugly losses to Western Michigan, Michigan-Dearborn and Robert Morris (Ill.) by a combined score of 24-10 have hurt its résumé. All three squads are beneath Kent in CSCHL standings.
The Flashes (22-11-1, 10-6-0 CSCHL) also lost to Lindenwood and Ohio (29-6-2, 14-1-1 CSCHL) by scores of 10-3 and 6-2 respectively, before rebounding to beat both teams the next day.
The key for the Flashes is scoring first. Kent is 18-2-0 when scoring the opening goal, but only 4-9-1 when its opponent gets the first tally.
If they get into a position where they are out front
they tend to play better Ohio coach Dan Morris said. If they're in a position to come from behind they tend to play a little more open-up style
which leaves them susceptible to get into games that are 10-3 or 6-2.
What you want to do is try not to let them get the lead, he said.
Kent will be as anxious as ever to jump out front this weekend. The Flashes are currently four spots too low in the rankings to earn a berth in the ACHA national tournament. Although the tournament seeds 16 teams
five automatic berths will keep any team ranked lower than 11th from earning a trip to Bensenville
Ill. The champion of each league comprising the ACHA gets a spot in the tournament regardless of its ranking
as does the tournament's host
Robert Morris University.
I absolutely think that if they sweep us this weekend they deserve to be in the national tournament, Morris said. They've done things that other teams in the top 10 haven't been able to do.
The Bobcats locked up a berth with last Friday's win against Iowa State
but are still in the process of refining their game for postseason play.
We're trying to gear up and play our best hockey at the right time, Morris said. We have goals we want to achieve, and Kent State is in the way for us to achieve more goals.
This is the last weekend of league play for both teams. The CSCHL tournament next weekend in Ames
Iowa
occurs after the final ACHA ranking
