Last weekend, Ohio was without one of its most integral players in Gianni Evangelisti. The junior forward was still dealing with an upper-body injury that caused him to be scratched back-to-back nights.
This weekend, however, Evangelisti will make his season debut as No. 5 Ohio (2-0) has a home-and-home with West Virginia (2-0-1).
The Bobcats’ top pointer scorer from a season ago, Evangelisti is more than ready to return to the ice, starting Friday night in Bird Arena.
“It’s nice to be back,” Evangelisti said. “It feels good out there, I feel pretty good, I’m just excited to get back to the lineup.”
While both his offensive and defensive presence were missed, Ohio made up for it. The Bobcats scored 21 goals in just two games.
Cody Black was behind the charge. The senior forward tallied eight points over the weekend and is hopeful that not only he and the Bobcats can continue that kind of offensive production. Black knows despite its record, West Virginia will give Ohio its best shot.
“I honestly don’t know much about them,” Black said. “I just know the last time we were there (during) my freshman year they challenged us, and they’ll give us that same mentality this weekend.”
In a 6-1 win over the Mountaineers in 2015, the Bobcats fell to an early lead in the opening minutes of the first period.
Behind a three-point game from former forward Michael Harris, Ohio found its footing and swept West Virginia.
Its 2015 weekend sweep was the last time Ohio had played West Virginia. Since then, the Bobcats have been to an American Collegiate Hockey Association national championship and, most recently, an ACHA quarterfinal game.
West Virginia is under new direction as coach Steve Cagle holds the reigns to its program. Cagle previously was the Division III ACHA coach for the University of Alabama at Birmingham where he led it to its first 20-win season in program history.
Despite new direction and a new look for the Mountaineers, Ohio coach Sean Hogan believes his team will be successful regardless.
“Hopefully if we play our game and we play the right way and do the little things,” Hogan said. “We should be OK.”
For Ohio to be “OK,” it needs to see more success with other power play units, not just its first. During Tuesday and Thursday’s practice, the Bobcats installed their other power play units, and Hogan is eager to see how they will perform.
“I thought today was good,” he said after Thursday’s practice. “We set some power play units so it should be a little bit better, we’ll see.”
With updated power play units and one of its key players back this weekend, Ohio has the potential to have another offensively dominant weekend.
Notes:
— Gabe Lampron and Jake Houston will be healthy scratches for Ohio this weekend. The two have job interviews during the weekend that will require them to miss the series.
— Austin Heakins will also be scratched this weekend. In his opening weekend, the junior totaled seven points but suffered a lower-body injury. The severity of the injury is currently unknown.
— Puck drop for Friday’s game at Bird Arena is slated for 7:30 p.m. Saturday’s puck drop in Morgantown, West Virginia, is scheduled for 4 p.m.
