Ohio looked to get revenge against a stingy Dayton team, who had previously beaten it earlier in the season. Ohio’s 4-2 win continued its winning streak to cap off a very successful regular season and take momentum into what it hopes will be a lengthy postseason run in the coming weeks.
Both teams came out with fiery energy early, leaning on defensive pressure and counterattack resulting in numerous shots on goal. There was a tense competitiveness in the air, and it felt as if the first team to find the back of the net would have a huge advantage over the other.
At the 11:11 mark of the first period Dayton was assessed a penalty, putting Ohio into the powerplay. The Bobcats took full advantage of having a man-up and took an early lead thanks to Ryley Scanlon putting one past the Flyers' keeper. Vincent Rengel had an assist on the goal.
At the 4:02 mark, Rengel was given a penalty for interference to give the advantage to the Flyers, who hoped to replicate the powerplay success of the Bobcats earlier in the period. Dayton was unsuccessful in its attempts and the first period ended with a 1-0 lead for Ohio.
The second period began with much of the same as neither team wanted to surrender a goal. Dayton had an early penalty at the 15:45 mark of the period. Once again Ohio cashed in on the powerplay.
Nikalas Jozefiak shot a rocket into the upper half of the net giving Ohio a 2-0 lead. Ethan Tamborski and Trent Johnson assisted on the goal. At the 7:15 mark of the period Dayton once again was given a penalty, this time for slashing.
It was a very short-lived powerplay though as Ohio was then assessed a penalty to readjust the numbers back to all-square because Joseph Folmer was penalized for slashing. This did not matter because Tamborski found the goal once again for the Bobcats giving them a 3-0 lead.
Not long after the Flyers found a way to put one of their own on the board making the score 3-1, still in favor of the Bobcats. The scoring barrage did not stop there; Peyton Botich got a breakaway and beat the goalie 1-on-1 to extend the Bobcat lead to three at 4-1.
The third period started with a quick trip to the penalty box for Ohio’s Brennan Walker at the 18:33 mark. Dayton finally took advantage of having the numbers themselves with a goal bringing the score to 4-2.
Ohio worked around some penalties to ice away the final few minutes of play and take a 4-2 victory in its final regular matchup of the year. Now all eyes look toward the postseason.
