The Central States Collegiate Hockey League is home to some of the nation’s best club hockey teams. According to the most recent American Collegiate Hockey Association’s computer polls, the CSCHL had all five of its teams ranked No. 11 or higher.
This past weekend, No. 6 Ohio (12-3-1) began its CSCHL season on the road against No. 10 Illinois (10-3-1), in which the two clubs split victories.
For the last few weeks, the Bobcats bench has been drained, and this week was no exception. They only played with three full lines.
The missing players, however, haven’t made much a difference in results: The Bobcats have gone 8-1-1 with their three lines.
The success despite adversity? Players have stepped up into missing roles.
“I’m really proud of our guys,” coach Sean Hogan said. “We’ve had guys step up and make a difference.”
The difference-makers got started early in Friday night’s game, as only six seconds into the game, senior forward Drew Crandall scored to give Ohio its quickest goal of the season.
Crandall, who normally is a third- to fourth-liner, has seen more time on the second and third lines among the recent injuries.
“We call him 'do it right Crandall,'” Hogan said. “He works so hard; I am proud of him for sure.”
Crandall’s early first period goal Friday took the life out of “The Big Pond” in Champaign as the momentum rode with the Bobcats through their 4-0 win.
The Bobcats got it done on both ends of the game, with sophomore goalie Jimmy Thomas stopping 26 shots on goal from the Fighting Illini.
“Jimmy played really, really well,” Hogan said. “He faced some tough shots; he continues to get better and better.”
It looked like a different Ohio team was on the ice Saturday night compared to Friday. As the two teams headed into the locker room for the first intermission, Illinois held a 3-0 lead, two of its three goals scored with under five minutes left in the first period.
The Bobcats' lone goal, scored by forward Gabe Lampron in the second period, was Lampron’s third goal in four games. Through 15 games, the junior has 12 points, tied for fourth-best on the team.
“Gabe has been doing all the little things right,” Hogan said. “He wins the puck battles and he’s been good with getting rebounds; I’m proud of him.”
Despite a 7-1 loss Saturday, the Bobcats outshot the Fighting Illini 31-20, but with only one goal to show, a loss like that is frustrating.
“We just could never get our flow going,” Hogan said. “We didn’t get the bounces like we did last night.”
For now, Ohio needs to have a short-term memory as it prepares for CSCHL opponent No. 5 Lindenwood this coming weekend.
