Another big win at home for hockey teamThe domination the Ohio hockey team had over visiting Fredonia State in two wins this weekend can be exemplified in one stat: at the end of the second period Saturday night Ohio had as many goals - six - as Fredonia State had total shots.
While the final score sheet gave the Blue Devils credit for eight shots for the first two periods, the fact remains that Ohio (18-7-2) outshot Fredonia State 100 to 36 on the weekend, cruising to 1-0 and 8-0 victories.
The No. 2 Bobcats had back-to-back shutouts without veteran goalie Brian Gallagher on the ice, as coach Dan Morris elected to play his freshman duo of Derek DeFelice and Ryan Baksh on Friday and Saturday night, respectively.
This weekend was just a show of our depth
Morris said of a lineup that featured 28 players for the series. It's huge to get so many of our younger guys the game experience that they need.
For Baksh, who took losses at Penn State in his last starts in October, the win was his first since October 4, and a chance to earn his first career shutout.
It's a big weight off my shoulders Baksh said. I finally got a chance to get back on the ice and prove myself and the guys made it easy for me. They limited (Fredonia State's) scoring chances and kept the puck on the other side of the ice.
Following Friday night's win, when Ohio only scored once - a short-handed goal from Nick Bassarab - on 51 shots, the team gave Baksh an offensive explosion Saturday evening.
Outshooting the Blue Devils 23-2 in the first period, the Bobcats went up 4-0. Forward Paul Warriner picked scored three goals on the night.
Assistant coach Ryan Walicki credited the offensive explosion of Warriner, and the rest of the team, to reevaluating exactly whom the team is playing.
I think on Friday you see that we went out and played Fredonia State
Walicki said. We played their game and didn't open up like we can. On Saturday night we decided to play ourselves
we put a focus on seeing the puck into the net and played our game.
Fredonia State, a first-year American Collegiate Hockey Association member, made its first trip to Bird Arena this weekend, where it failed to score a single goal in two games.
Warriner said that the team was interested in the games as a chance to keep building on its momentum regardless of the strength of the opponent.
The last few weeks have been huge for us
Warriner said. We've been able to build as a team
and it's good to be firing on all cylinders.
With impressive wins this weekend the team is hitting on most cylinders, but a new task lies ahead next weekend when the Bobcats play at Delaware. Ohio has yet to play a road game Winter Quarter, something that has helped them gain momentum, Warriner said.
As we've started playing better
the fans have been tremendous
Warriner said. They rally around us winning
and we rally around their support. It's a great cycle.
Ohio resumes play against Delaware at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday night.
