Since Sean Hogan arrived as Ohio's coach in 2014, the Bobcats have had no issues against Liberty — Ohio is a perfect 8-0 against the Flames the past four seasons.
This weekend, however, the Bobcats will enter Lynchburg, Virginia, this weekend differently than past years.
With 19 skaters, including three goalies, Ohio is limping into LaHaye Ice Center for its two games against Liberty on Friday and Saturday. Puck drop for Friday and Saturday's games are scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
"I've been through injury troubles before," Hogan said. "I don't think I've ever been down to this few guys."
But Hogan is still optimistic about his team's chances against No. 13 Liberty. After No. 11 Ohio emerged from its first shortened weekend with a 1-0-1 record against No. 10 Stony Brook, the Bobcats' bottom-line players showed their capability in seizing the most of their increased playing time.
The spread of points across Ohio's spectrum of talent levels last weekend is an encouraging sign for the Bobcats, who will need similar production this weekend.
"We've definitely gone through ups an downs, and we're playing really well," Hogan said. "Yeah, we're missing guys, but everyone is playing well, so I'm excited about that."
Ohio will be without forwards Tyler Harkins and Matt Rudin and defenseman Garrett Jenkins, giving Hogan 10 available forwards and nine defensemen this weekend.
The injuries mostly hurt the forwards, who will run three full lines and have just one additional player to substitute. Teams usually have four full lines of three forwards.
While the shortage is not ideal, Ohio proved that it can still compete. It's what the Bobcats had in the second and third periods of last Friday's overtime win against Stony Brook.
This time, however, the Bobcats will have to carry the heavier burden from its lighter roster through two full games.
For senior Drew Crandall, who frequently plays in Ohio's third or fourth forward line, the task is never unexpected for the team's back-end players.
"We prepare the same way as everyone else," he said. "It's obviously something you don't want to see happen. Obviously you don't want to have injuries going through the season, but we have a next-man-up mentality and everyone can step into pretty much any role on this team and succeed at it. I think we'll see that moving forward."
One reason why Ohio feels confident in its chances this weekend is because of it's conditioning, which will be crucial in outlasting an aggressive Liberty team.
The shortened roster has allowed the Bobcats to get more reps among healthy players in their 70-minute practices. While many players believed the team's conditioning was already excellent, the additional skating in practice has furthered those beliefs.
"Honestly, I think, right now, we are probably one of the most conditioned teams in the nation," team captain Jake Faiella said. "For three weeks now, we've been playing short (on) guys. Practices have been the same intensity, if not better than what they were at the beginning of the season, so I think we'll do fine."
