Back in December, after his team lost three games on a tough Arizona road trip, coach Dan Morris called two upcoming games against Kent State “the most important of the season so far.”
His team responded by sweeping the Golden Flashes by a combined 15-2 score line.
As Kent State makes the return trip to Athens this weekend, Ohio finds itself in a similar situation. Having lost five in a row and being just a week away from the Central States Collegiate Hockey League tournament, the Bobcats know that these games against Kent are the new most important contests of the season, if for nothing other than getting back in the win column.
“I think we’re all sick of losing,” defenseman Zack Barbis said. “I know I don’t want to do it anymore, regardless of who we beat.”
Barbis’ attitude is built on four years of playing for Morris, who says he’d much rather have a team that hates losing than one that loves winning. But that identity, which Morris said back in October would be the key to success, has failed to materialize thus far.
“I think we enjoy winning too much. I don’t think we look at it the other way,” he said. “I think there’s a few guys who have that, but I think it’s got to spread over to a few other guys for that to be the mindset of the team.”
To help change that mindset, Morris held a video session this week. He put in a tape from a game that Ohio won two years ago, and followed it with a game from this year. The difference was palpable.
“It’s most of the same players, but it was night-and-day and I think it’s the recognition that we won because we worked hard and we did things right, not because of my talent,” Morris said.
Senior captain Michael Schultz, who was one of the many current Bobcats who played in both games, said he thinks commitment and effort are key to breaking the skid.
“It just comes down to working harder and putting a full 60 minutes in,” he said. “We just need to get back to working hard with everyone putting in a full effort. We can’t have half the time working hard and the other half not.”
Kent State might be a good opponent for the slumping Ohio squad. Though the Bobcats have lost five of eight in 2012, four of those came against two of the top three teams in the country, Penn State and Lindenwood.
The Golden Flashes, meanwhile, are ranked modestly at 24th in the latest American Collegiate Hockey Association polls and sit dead last in the CSCHL with only one league win. Coupled with the fact Ohio beat them handily back in December, the Golden Flashes look ripe for the picking, but that’s exactly the trap Morris said his squad must avoid.
“We can make 10 mistakes against Penn State and Lindenwood and not get away with one of them; we can make 10 mistakes against Kent State and maybe get away with nine of them,” he said.
“We have to separate the two and say, ‘OK, we may be able to get away with these mistakes but we have to be so disciplined not to make those mistakes, even though we may be able to get away with it.’ That’s the challenge.”
cd211209@ohiou.edu
