After waiting nearly a month for its 22nd win, Ohio got it in a big way Friday night.
The Bobcats crushed in state foes Kent State 9-1 to improve their record to 22-11-1 on the season, including 9-3-1 in the Central States Collegiate Hockey League. The Golden Flashes dropped to 19-19-1, 1-12-0 in the CSCHL.
After struggling to score throughout most of January, the Bobcats didn’t have to wait long Friday. Ohio got on the board only 31 seconds in when Jared Fuhs put a backhanded shot over Kent goalie Justin Wisniewski’s glove. Just 28 seconds later it was 2-0 as Josh Fodor put one through Wisniewski’s five-hole.
Nick Rostek then finished off the scoring in period five minutes later as Ohio outshot the Flashes by a whooping 17-1 in the first.
The teams traded shorthanded goals to start the second, with Michael Schultz getting Ohio’s on a beautiful move around Wisniewski before Nigel Crighton got Kent’s only goal of the night.
Then with five minutes left in the middle frame things got chippy when Ohios Nate De LA Torre put the puck on net after the whistle, causing a huge brawl as Kent’s Tristan Lysowski took exception.
But the scrum awakened the Bobcats out of a bit of a slumber as they scored three more times to go up 8-1 heading into the second intermission, with Schultz, Tom Whetsel and Jonathan Pietramala getting the tallies. Pietramala finished off the scoring with the only goal of the third with 12 minutes remaining.
In all eight Bobcats recorded at least multiple points on the night as Ohio threw 47 shots on Wisniewski, with Fuhs leading the charge with a goal and three assists.
Brendan Madden had to stop just 10 shots to get the win in net, improving his record to 10-2-0 on the season. In three games against Kent, Madden has a 1.00 goals-against average and seems likely to get the start again Saturday as the Bobcats again take on Kent at Bird Arena. Faceoff is scheduled for 7:30.
cd211209@ohiou.edu
