A dominant weekend for the Bobcats came to an odd conclusion Sunday in Morgantown.
Leading 3-2 over West Virginia entering the third period, two large holes opened up in the ice surface at the Morgantown Municipal Rink, and ice crews were unable to fix the issue, which was apparently caused by a broken pipe.
After attempts at packing the holes with snow failed, and the ice was deemed unsafe, Coach Jonathon Sheridan spoke with Mountaineer Coach Paul Taibi on resolving the unfinished game after the half hour delay.
“He said he didn’t want to make us wait any longer if they couldn’t fix it,” Sheridan said. “He said they would just call it a game and he didn’t want to make us come back just to play one period. He was worried about the safety of our goalie playing in the crease.”
The odd ending jaded what was one of the most successful weekends of the season for the Bobcats, who won by a combined 16-4 margin over Indiana and West Virginia, including a 9-1 victory on Saturday where Ohio scored six goals within a ten minute span in the first period.
Sheridan called it the strongest period the team played all season.
“They came ready to play and we’ve been struggling to come out strong the night after a win, so we really wanted to come out hot and we did,” Sheridan said.
Each of the nine goals were scored by nine separate players, with freshman forwards Matt Hartman and Patrick Spellacy, sophomore forwards Garrett Williams and Logan Pfeffer, junior forward Tom Whetsel and senior defenseman Paul Sergi each scoring in the first period, one in which the Bobcats outshot the Hoosiers by a 22-3 margin.
Freshman goalie Ryan Heltion was given the start Saturday, and stopped 17 of 18 shots against.
Combined with Friday’s 4-1 victory, the Bobcats completed their first sweep of a Central States Collegiate Hockey League series of the season.
Sophomore Aaron Alkema was in the net on Friday and stopped 20 of 21 shots against.
Ohio improved its record to 12-4-1 on the season heading into this weekend’s matchup with Lindenwood.
“We had a great weekend, our guys played great, but it’s behind us and we have to focus on Lindenwood,” Sheridan said. “They’re a great team and we have to be ready. It’s a big point for the league and an even bigger point in the season for our team specifically, being so young.”
as299810@ohiou.edu
@akarl_smith
