Going into its Thursday game, Ohio knew it was going to have to put up a fight in order to compete with the fifth-ranked team in the American Collegiate Hockey Association. Ohio did, in fact, give Adrian a hard time, but its efforts were not enough. Ohio lost to Adrian 6-3 at Arrington Ice Arena in its first away game of the season. The Bobcats (7-5) have now lost two games in a row for the second time this season.
Here are the numbers to know from Ohio’s loss to Adrian:
25
Ohio barely got a chance to get adjusted to Arrington Ice Arena on Thursday before Adrian scored. 25 seconds into the game, Samuel Spaedt sent the puck past Matt Server, putting Ohio behind 1-0 early in the first period. The Bobcats looked stunned after the Bulldogs’ first goal, and rightfully so. Against good teams like Adrian, it is important that Ohio does not give up early unnecessary goals. It seemed like Ohio learned its lesson about giving up early goals when it lost 6-4 to Iowa State two weeks prior. However, it repeated that mistake Thursday night.
3
In the middle of the first period, there was an offensive showdown between both teams. Three goals were scored in the span of two and a half minutes. Drew Magyar scored Ohio’s first goal of the game, but only had eight seconds of game time to celebrate before Adrian answered back with a goal of its own. Ohio was unfazed by Adrian’s strike back, and scored two minutes later. By the end of the first period, six goals had been scored.
Ohio’s offensive spurt, followed by Server’s shutout second period, gave it confidence that helped it stay in the game. It was an electrifying two and a half minutes that showed the Bobcats know how to keep their heads up when they get knocked down.
39
Although Server gave up five goals — one of Adrian’s goals was scored on an empty net — things could have been a lot worse. Server had 39 saves Thursday night, the most he has had in a single game this season. There were many close calls, but Server was behind the puck for most of them. He kept the Bulldogs to zero goals in the second period, and one goal in the third.
10
The Bobcats only had 10 penalty minutes Thursday, which is not the norm for them. Multiple times this season, Ohio has racked up the penalties, sometimes earning over 20 minutes in the penalty box in a single game. Often times, the Bobcats’ opponents take advantage of these penalties, and this was no different tonight. Adrian scored two of its goals on power plays.
