A new style of play ushered in a couple of high scoring affairs this weekend as the Bobcats split with West Virginia, losing 6-5 in overtime Friday and winning 9-4 Saturday.
With these new rules
goalies are going to see a lot more shots Ohio coach Dan Morris said. Scoring chances are going to increase. For us to give up 10 goals in two games is unheard of. We'll adjust over time.
The 'Cats (1-0-0-1) were able to adjust Saturday, toppling the Mountaineers (1-1) with a bevy of goals. Center J.J. Plutt kicked off the scoring in the first, but Ohio remained down going into the second after giving up two West Viginia goals.
Ohio answered in the second and took the lead with goals from Charles Harvey and Dave Fitzgerald. The 'Cats would add five more goals from forward Jeff Jepson, Plutt, center Jim Fuhs and a pair from forward Phil Oberlin.
The third period saw a significant drop in the action as Ohio rode a late goal from right wing Paul Warriner and a five-goal lead to the victory. Paul Marshall and Chris Carlson split time in goal for the Bobcats and racked up 16 and eight saves respectively.
We played with a lot more energy Morris said of his team's all-around effort. We made some adjustments and they worked out well. With all the penalties you need to play all your skaters. We just wore them down physically.
Morris said that hard-nosed attitude is something that was missing on Friday night when the 'Cats fell in overtime.
I think we played pretty passive
he said. They just outworked us.
Despite getting 60 shots on goal compared to West Virginia's 30, the 'Cats weren't able to convert those opportunities into goals. Left wing Clay LaBrosse was able to get Ohio on the board first with a power-play goal in the first. West Virginia would answer with a goal just six minutes later.
In the second, defenseman Justin Werle scored for the Mountaineers before John Yasak and Warriner put Ohio back on top with a pair of scores. The squads would then split goals to round out the period with forward Bill Haas scoring for West Virginia and right wing Brandon Steffek scoring for Ohio.
Heading into the third with a 4-3 lead, the 'Cats allowed two goals before Yasak scored again to push the game to overtime.In the extra frame, Haas was able to beat Ohio's Ryan Baksh, who had 12 saves on the night, to give West Virginia the victory.
I don't know what the problem was
said Morris. We underestimated our opponent (Friday). Three out of the last four years we've dropped our opener. We just didn't have a sense of urgency.
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Jess Mosser
