Playing on a line with goal-scorers Michael Schultz and Tyler Pilmore, Nick Rostek usually isn't one to be noticed.
But three goals in as many games this weekend earned Rostek the Central States Collegiate Hockey League Playoffs' MVP award.
"It's nice to see him get that kind of recognition, because he does a lot of the dirty work that doesn't get noticed," coach Dan Morris said.
Rostek scored Ohio's only two goals in a 2-1 win over Iowa State on Saturday and added his third goal of the weekend on Sunday to put the Bobcats ahead 2-0 over Lindenwood.
Morris said he was also pleased with the play of Billy Hemann, who recorded five points - one goal and four assists - during the tournament.
All week leading up to the tournament, Morris stressed the importance of special teams at this point of the season, and both the Bobcats' power play and penalty kill were exceptional during the three games.
Two of Rostek's goals were on the power play, while the third was essentially a power play goal, coming two seconds after the man-advantage had expired.
The Bobcats did not allow a power play goal all weekend.
"Our success on the penalty kill was two-fold," Morris said. "We stayed out of the penalty box, and when we did have penalties we did a good job killing them."
Team confidence on the rise
In the days following Lindenwood's series sweep over the Bobcats last month, Morris questioned his team's confidence. But with a 4-0 win over the Lions on Sunday, Morris said his team is in a good place heading into the American Collegiate Hockey Association Tournament.
"Psychologically we had to get over the hump and beat a team like Lindenwood," Morris said. "We played in some tight games this weekend and we did a good job of closing them out."
As the No. 3 seed in the tournament, Ohio will play the No. 14 seeded State University of New York Canton Kangaroos.
Canton (25-6) won the Eastern Collegiate Hockey League with 51 points.
The only common opponent between the Bobcats and Kangaroos this season was Kent State, and the Golden Flashes beat Canton 3-2 late last month.
Other common opponents from the last two years include Penn State and Youngstown State.
"We don't know much about them, but they have played a few of our foes, so we'll try to gather some information from them," Morris said. "You take care of yourself, but you also have to game-plan for each opponent. You've got to balance the focus on what we want to do and stopping what they want to do."
Practice schedule
With a weekend off before the ACHA Tournament begins March 5, the team will have an irregular practice schedule this week.
Today the team will continue their themed competitions with dodge ball.
The team will hold a three-on-three tournament known as "The Battle for the Barrel" tomorrow before returning to their regular routine on Thursday.
ro137807@ohiou.edu
