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Forward Joe Breslin celebrates during a game earlier this season.

Hockey: Heltion shutout completes Ohio's sweep of Rutgers

Surprises are always more exciting, but there’s also comfort in knowing what you see is what you get out of your team.

And for Ohio hockey fans, the past five weeks of action has proven a lot about what they can expect out of their team.

The Bobcats returned from a two week break from the ice by turning in a dominant series at home against Rutgers, defeating the Scarlet Knights by scores of 8-1 and 5-0, respectively. With the sweep, Ohio (18-2-2) clinched a perfect 8-0 homestand, and extended its home record to 15-0 overall.

“It feels good to be where we’re at and be undefeated at home,” coach Sean Hogan said. “But we’ve got a long way to go. There’s a lot of tough opponents ahead of us still. Every team we play from this point forward is inside the top 15, so we need to be ready.”

Rutgers (3-12) was able to catch the Bobcats off to a slow start on Friday, keeping Ohio from establishing puck possession early and only allowing one goal in the first period. The Bobcats got things moving quickly in the second, however, stringing together three goals while allowing just one from Rutgers, taking a 4-1 lead into the third period.

The third period saw more of the same for Ohio, as four more goals were poured on by the home team and goalie Aaron Alkema sat back and watched his teammate dominate on the other side of the ice. In an 8-1 victory, Ohio saw eight different players score goals -- the fourth time this season at least eight Bobcats have put a puck in the net in a single game.

Michael Kretz and Liam Geither each scored three points in the game, while Michael Harris added his team-leading 15th goal of the season.

When Saturday’s game started, the Bobcats didn’t miss a beat from their dominant play late on Friday. Logan Pfeffer scored two goals to lead a 3-0 first period start for Ohio, while Nathan De La Torre and Geither each finished with a goal and an assist in the 5-0 win. Ryan Heltion totaled 19 saves en route to his second shutout of the year.

“Coming off the big win last night, we wanted to suck the life out of them right off the bat,” Pfeffer said. “We got a couple goals in the first period so we could dictate the rest of the game. With a team like Rutgers, you know their game plan is to keep it close as long as possible, so we wanted to get up as early as we could.”

Ohio finished the dominant eight-game homestand outscoring its opponents 45-6, and recorded three shutouts. Its total win streak of nine straight games will be needed momentum as it goes on the road to face Davenport (11-5) in its final weekend before the holiday break.

“Its a real hard place to play against a real good opponent,” Hogan said of the coming challenge. “We’ve gotta be able to compete for 60 minutes every night. It’s a long road to go to get to the national championship.”

@_tonywolfe_

aw987712@ohio.edu

 

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