It would be safe to say that Lindenwood has claimed victory in the lion’s share of games against Ohio.
And after the Lions once again asserted their dominance in a Central States Collegiate Hockey League clash, sweeping the weekend series by a combined score of 10-2, the Bobcats have now lost seven of their past eight games against Lindenwood.
For coach Dan Morris, the thrashing they received at the hands of their division rival could be explained very easily.
“It was a combination of a lot of things,” Morris said. “But really, we didn’t play well and they played great.”
One of the issues that Morris had hoped to improve after implementing a new scheme in November was handling transitions in the neutral zone. Against Lindenwood, the Bobcats once again found themselves dealing with issues in the middle of the rink.
“We lost this game in the neutral zone, from blue line to blue line,” Morris said. “From our inability to defend their transition and our inability to transition against them. … We just didn’t play as well as they did in the neutral zone.”
And though it was the first game in almost a month for the Bobcats, the team was not making any excuses for their poor play.
“You can’t really blame the time off because they were off as long as we were,” goaltender Matt Michno said. “We were playing a good team on the road in a difficult situation, but we can’t blame that. It’s got to be a team effort and we just really didn’t put it forth on either night.”
Morris said that the team would use that sweep to fuel them for their next road trip, which would take them to Ames, Iowa, to play Iowa State.
The offensive struggles continued Friday night, but Morris was pleased with the improvement he saw in his team’s performance in the 2-1 overtime defeat. The Bobcats improved their shot total from the previous game, peppering Cyclone junior goalie Scott Ismond with 35 shots.
But the Bobcats couldn’t convert and faced the possibility of being swept twice in a row, which last happened last season after consecutive meetings against Lindenwood and Penn State.
Ohio rebounded from a poor first-period performance in which they allowed four goals in the opening 17 minutes of Saturday’s game, holding the Cyclones in check by turning five Iowa State penalties into Bobcat goals. In the previous weekend against Lindenwood, Ohio didn’t convert any of its 12 power play chances.
Freshman Michael Harris saw this game as not only a turning point in the season, but a reversal of fortune for a struggling offense.
“The past three games, a lot of our shots were hitting right into the goalie’s chest and we weren’t getting too many bounces our way,” Harris said. “Every game there are a lot of bounces that can go either way, and this game they just went our way and we scored eight goals.”
ch203310@ohiou.edu
