Ohio scored four first period goals in route to a 5-2 victory over the West Virginia Mountaineers at Bird Arena Friday night.
Nice Rostek got the Bobcats on the board first at 10:41 in the first period when he swooped behind the West Virginia net and through the puck in front, when it appeared to bounce off the skate of a Mountaineer and in.
Zach Barbis and Jay Mazzarella then scored at 6:42 an 5:25, respectively, after which West Virginia pulled its starting goaltender. The move didn’t help much though, as Brett Agnew finished off the Bobcats’ first-period surge with an unassisted goal with just 50 second left in the period.
Ohio went down a man early in the second when Agnew was called for charging, it didn’t matter much as Tom Whetsel got Ohio’s fifth on the penalty kill. West Virginia did take advantage just 10 seconds later with a Mitch Rosendale goal to get it to 5-1.
The Mountaineers then finished off the scoring as Joe Sasala scored 19 seconds into the third.
Ohio outshot West Virginia 49-14 in the game, including 17-5 in the manic first frame, never letting the Mountaineers get more than five shots on goaltender Teddy Dushkin in a period.
Barbis was named the third star of the game for his one goal, while Michael Schultz and Tyler Pilmore took the second and first stars, respectively, with two assists apiece.
Ohio will look to complete its three-game sweep of the Mountaineers tomorrow night, with faceoff at Bird set for 7:30 p.m.
