As the old tourist slogan for that state up north goes, the visiting Bobcats wholeheartedly said "YES to Michigan!" during a three-game road trip this weekend.
The Wolverine State was a pleasant peninsula for Ohio (9-3-0), which grabbed a pair of one-goal wins to sweep nemesis and defending national champion Davenport before coming from behind against Oakland yesterday to win the battle of OU’s.
Having lost their last three games against ranked opponents, the three wins against the sixth-ranked Panthers and 16th-ranked Grizzlies was a big step in the right direction for the Bobcats.
“Anytime you go on the road and play three tough games against two tough teams and get to come home with three wins, that’s a pretty good weekend,” coach Dan Morris said. “I like nothing better than winning one-goal hockey games.”
It was all about the Bobcats’ top line Friday as the combination of Michael Schultz, Nick Rostek and Tyler Pilmore recorded every Bobcat point in a 4-3 win. Pilmore and Schultz combined for three tallies in a manic five-goal opening period, while Rostek supplied the crucial pass for Schultz’s winner five minutes into the third.
It was the first time the three had played together since Rostek went down with a right-ankle injury Oct. 8, and the impact of his return was evident from his first few shifts back.
“(Rostek) gets those guys in sync, and he creates space for Schultz and Pilmore to do their thing,” Morris said. “Mike and Tyler really were hard to stop.”
The big guns were at it again Saturday, with Schultz opening the scoring on a penalty-shot goal before assisting on a Pilmore goal in the second to make it 3-1.
Davenport fought back to tie the game at 3-3 heading into the final frame, but Pilmore netted OU’s last two goals to finish off a hat trick and to give Ohio the edge in a 5-4 nail-biter. Goaltender Teddy Dushkin made a number of big saves down the stretch.
After not trailing during the first two games of the weekend, Ohio twice had to fight back from one-goal deficits against Oakland before taking control in the third period for a 3-2 triumph.
Though the first line had carried the Bobcats past Davenport, it was the rest of the lineup starring in Sunday’s matinee as Zach Tisdale, Tom Whetsel and Brett Agnew recorded the goals, and backup goaltender Brendan Madden picked up his second victory of the season.
The Bobcats committed only eight penalties across the three games after taking more than 20 the weekend before at Penn State. Not filling the sin bin had been a point Morris tried to hammer into his players’ heads all week, to apparent success.
“You give the guys a lot of credit there, they got the message and they see the results,” Morris said. “You can pound it into their heads, but they’ve got to see it to make it work, and you saw the difference.”
Quick Stats
Friday
OHIO 4 Davenport 3
Saturday
OHIO 5 Davenport 4
Sunday
OHIO 3 Oakland 2