After being regarded as the top team in the league for the majority of the season, few questions remained about Ohio heading into the weekend, aside from who would be the first to hand the Bobcats a loss.
After a 4-3 defeat by Liberty University on Saturday, Ohio can clear its mind in preparation for the start of upcoming conference play. The Bobcats took the first game of the weekend, though, topping the Flames 3-2 Friday.
Liberty (9-5-1) has one of the most productive offenses in the American Collegiate Hockey Association, which is headed by league-leading scorer Rick Turner, a senior forward who has 21 tallies on the year.
Junior goalie Fedor Dushkin, was the man between the pipes Friday for the Bobcats. He held the high-octane Flames to just two goals in the occasion.
Freshman forward Nick Hudeck was the offensive spark plug for Ohio Friday; he led the offense with two goals — doubling his season output to four.
His first score, which came early in the first period off an assist by sophomore forward Nathan De La Torre, gave Ohio momentum that carried it through the rest of the contest.
“For the first goal, I don’t normally get handoff passes to an open net,” Hudeck said. “Scoring in a packed house to give us the momentum and a quick lead felt great.”
Freshman center Michael Harris, Ohio’s top scorer with 10 tallies on the season, assisted Hudeck on his second goal before being ejected in the first period for charging opposing goalie Blair Bennett. The loss of Harris was a moot point for the Bobcats, as sophomore forward Tom Whetsel converted on an open opportunity in the second period to give the team its third goal.
Moving forward into Saturday’s match, Dushkin continued to keep the Ohio goal on lockdown as he and Bennett kept the game scoreless through the first period.
But neither team would be silenced for long, as they battled in the second to keep the score close and the suspense high.
Liberty took a quick two-goal lead early in the second period, leaving Ohio with its first multi-goal deficit of the season, only to be matched soon thereafter by the Bobcats’ offense.
Harris scored the first goal — a rocket from the blue line — with nine minutes remaining in the second period. Freshman center Diego Breckenridge popped in his first goal of the season less than a minute later to even the score.
Each team’s scoring leaders, Harris and Turner, provided the finishing touches to keep the game tied 3-3 heading into the third.
The last period saw both teams return to top defensive form, with the game hanging in the balance until the last minute of play.
It was then that Turner provided an assist to sophomore defenseman Cam Bakker, who slipped the solidifying goal past Dushkin.
Dushkin said the loss gives the Bobcats a renewed sense of urgency, especially since their next games will be against a tough Illinois squad on the road next weekend.
“I think that being No. 1 for so long, we’ve been a little nervous and it showed in the last game,” he said. “Liberty got a couple good opportunities and they capitalized.”
jd202409@ohiou.edu
