When Ohio lost 2-1 at Iowa State in overtime Friday night, the Bobcats knew they couldn’t drive another 12 hours back to Athens without a victory to end a three-game losing streak.
And after falling behind 4-0 in the opening 16 minutes in the first period, coach Dan Morris pulled starting goalie Fedor Dushkin and it appeared that the Bobcats would drop their fourth consecutive contest.
“We worked on (defending odd-man rushes) all week in practice and I think we did a good job Friday night of not giving them up,” Morris said. “It was tough to see, from a coaching standpoint … to give those up and fall behind early.”
But a Cyclone tripping penalty followed by a game misconduct against Justin Wilkinson more than a minute after their fourth goal turned the momentum and helped Ohio defeat Iowa State 8-5 in Ames, Iowa.
The Bobcat power play, which was dormant in their previous three games, scored six goals on five Iowa State penalties in what freshman Michael Harris described as a critical game for his team.
“This was a turning point in our season,” Harris said. “It’s the first time we’ve lost three straight. Coming off of a 12 hour bus ride and playing the No. 2 team (Robert Morris) in the country next week, we definitely needed a win to snap our streak.”
Harris scored Ohio’s first goal heading with less than a minute remaining in the first period with a blistering one-timer, providing some much needed momentum heading into the intermission.
ch203310@ohiou.edu
