Beating a team five times in a season is a tough task. Beating a team three times in eight days is even tougher.
Ohio did both with its 7-2 victory over Kent State in the first round of the Central States Collegiate Hockey League tournament Friday night at Bird Arena.
The second-seeded Bobcats will now play third-seed Robert Morris in the semifinals at 7:30 Saturday night, while top-ranked Lindenwood will face off with five-seeds Illinois at 4.
Ohio’s captain Michael Schultz got the scoring going seven minutes in when he put one over Kent goaltender Zachary Nowak. Four minutes later it was 2-0 when a seeing-eye J.C. Gulch shot got through a crowd and past Nowak.
Josh Fodor scored Ohio’s third off a beautiful feed from senior defenseman Jake Holzemer, who was playing in his first game since Oct. 1 due to a knee injury. Schultz then ended the scoring in the first with 1:30 thanks to an assist from linemate Tyler Pilmore. In all the Bobcats outshot the Golden Flashes in the period by a whooping 21-1.
But it was Kent who got on the board first in the second. Ohio defenseman Zack Barbis turned the puck over on a power play and Kent’s Andrew Gazdak made him pay, scoring over OU goaltender Teddy Dushkin’s left shoulder. Ohio’s Jared Fuhs retaliated in kind with his own shorthanded goal minutes later.
Kent’s Bobby Lyle got his teams second on a breakaway with six remaining in the period, scoring through Dushkin’s five-hole. But once again the Bobcats retaliated immediately, with Pilmore this time setting up his other linemate Nick Rostek as Ohio took a 6-2 lead into the second intermission.
Barbis then got the only goal of the third period after a Tom Whetsel shot bounced off Nowak’s pads and on to his stick with a wide open goal waiting.
Dushkin made 15 saves in the win, his 12th of the season, while Nowak stopped 33 of the 40 shots the Bobcats threw on him.
Quick Stats
OHIO 7 Kent State 2
Final shots on goal: OHIO 40, Kent State 17
Bobcat goal scorers: Schultz (2), Gulch, Fodor, Fuhs, Rostek, Barbis
cd211209@ohiou.edu
