Ohio isn't planning any changes before playing Oklahoma despite last weekend's losses.
Despite enduring their first two home losses of the season last weekend against Robert Morris (IL), the Bobcats gave no impression they were ready to hit the panic button.
“Friday, I don’t know what happened,” assistant coach David Nies said. “We played a lot better on Saturday…we ended up losing the game, but I was pretty proud of the guys and how they played and how they battled.”
In order to defeat Oklahoma (21-7-2) this weekend, Ohio will certainly have to do more than they did in a losing effort against Robert Morris — starting with the offense.
Ohio’s success this season has come largely from an offensive strategy of putting pucks on net, crashing for the rebounds and jamming loose pucks home. The result has been a scoring average of over four goals per game.
“Definitely a big part of our game is getting the puck to the net, going hard to the net, and finding a way to battle and get some chances,” forward Matt Hartman said. “That’s a huge part of the game and it always needs to be worked on no matter how good we are at it.”
Hartman is riding a hot streak of eight points after recording two goals and six assists in the past six games. He is one of the players Ohio is looking at for offensive production at this late point in the season.
With only four games left before postseason play, the Bobcats aren’t planning on implementing any significant chances.
While some of its top players are away for the World University Games, Ohio has been faced with the challenge of finding chemistry on its lines.
“Everybody’s pretty much interchangeable,” Nies said. “I’m sure we’ll make a couple tweaks (to the lines).”
Oklahoma is in a similar situation to Ohio. The Sooners also lost their top two scorers, Bryce Johnson and Jordan Greenberg, who have 45 points each, and a defenseman Mico Solorzano to Team USA.
Though facing a shorthanded Sooners team should come as a relief to the Bobcats, the Ohio coaching staff isn’t putting any focus on it.
“For the most part, we try to be concerned about what we’re bringing to the table and how we’re going to play our game,” assistant coach Kyle Schussler said. “We’re concerned about our work ethic and our habits and what we’re doing out there opposed to (Oklahoma).”
If Ohio can make one major offensive improvement over last weekend, it would be to get a better start on the scoreboard. The Bobcats gave up a first period goal in both games against Robert Morris without scoring any of their own.
“I think everyone is a little disappointed in themselves,” Hartman said regarding last weekend’s performance. “We want to come out and we want to sweep this next weekend.”
Nies has similar desires, but stated a bolder prediction.
“We’re taking two (games). There’s no doubt about that,” he said.
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