With four league games remaining, Ohio finds itself atop the league and controlling its own destiny.
Saturday's win over Illinois broke a temporary tie with first-ranked Lindenwood for first place in the Central States Collegiate Hockey League. The two squads were deadlocked at 44 points after Friday, but Kent State upset the Lions at Lindenwood Saturday, while the Bobcats downed the Illini.
The Bobcats (27-6-2, 12-1-1 CSCHL) will host Iowa State and Kent State at home before traveling to Ames, Iowa, for the league playoffs.
Ohio has already clinched a spot in the eight-team CSCHL playoffs, but can secure the top seed by splitting with the Cyclones or sweeping the Flashes. The team will then face the Adrian Bulldogs, a non-CSCHL team, before likely heading to Bensenville, Ill., for the American Collegiate Hockey Association National Championships.
The CSCHL is one of six leagues that make up the larger ACHA. Ohio first would compete in the CSCHL tournament and then the ACHA tournament.
Technically, the Bobcats have not earned an ACHA tournament berth yet, but the odds of being excluded are slim. The team can secure a position by winning the CSCHL or by sustaining a high ACHA ranking. The Bobcats have been ranked in the top-five since the season began.
Our goal is to beat every team we play
and we've done that coach Dan Morris said. When you get into single-game eliminations and you play an opponent you haven't played at a national tournament setting you still want to keep that intact.
The ACHA tournament fields 16 teams. Seven of the seeds are automatic bids. Each of the league's champions secures a trip to Bensenville, regardless of its ranking, along with the tournament's host, Robert Morris (Ill.).
Ohio and Penn State are the only two league-leading teams that are also in the top 16, meaning the other five league champions and Robert Morris would keep any team ranked 12th or lower out of the tournament.
Beating Iowa State and Kent State will not be an easy task, though. The sixth-ranked Cyclones are also probably headed to Bensenville.
We're trying to close out our league title
Morris said. They don't want to be the team to give it to us.
The 15th-ranked Flashes will be playing for their tournament lives when they visit Bird Arena in two weeks, and Kent made a strong case for moving up in the rankings following its stunning win over Lindenwood Saturday. But even with two likely wins over CSCHL cellar-dweller Eastern Michigan next weekend, the Flashes will be on the bubble when they visit the Bobcats.
When you look at Kent
they have signature wins
Morris said. What other team
other than us
has beat top-five opponents? I think Kent probably has the best resume for the 10th or 11th spot.
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