First frame crucial as Bobcats advance
Submitted By Ryan Boyd on Friday, February 17, 2012
In a season plagued by injuries and inconsistencies, the Ohio Bobcats made a firm statement Friday night in the opening round of the CSCHL Tournament.
It is time to make some noise across the nation.
Ohio (24-11-1) was relentless from the opening puck drop in thumping the seventh-seeded Kent State Golden Flashes at Bird Arena for the fifth time this year, 7-2.
The Bobcats came out of the gates with one of its more dominating periods of the entire campaign. A balanced attack on the offensive and defensive ends of the ice suffocated any hopes that Kent State (16-21-1) had of picking up a quick start.
After playing just under seven minutes of scoreless hockey, Michael Schultz lit the lamp for the Bobcats. It was his 28th goal of the season, and the first of his team-leading four points on the night.
Jonathan Gulch took his turn less than three minutes later when he snuck a shot from the blue line past freshman netminder Zachary Nowak to put the Bobcats up 2-0.
Then, in the closing minutes of the opening frame, Ohio completed an excellent 20 minutes of hockey. Josh Fodor and Schultz both added a tally in just over one minute to push the lead to 4-0. Senior Jake Holzemer, who battled a leg injury all season, returned to the lineup and picked up an assist on one of the two snipes.
Overall, the Bobcats outshot the Golden Flashes 21-1 in the first period, a statistic that is unrivaled by any other Ohio contest in the 2011-2012 season.
The second period was much more of a back-and-forth affair. Andrew Gazdak, Kent State's leading scorer, posted a short-handed goal with 17:46 remaining. He tapped in a relatively easy rebound attempt after Ohio surrendered another odd-man rush opportunity. The Flashes later found the back of the net off of the stick Bobby Lyle for what was the second of their only two scores in the contest.
But, as was the case in last weekend’s 3-1 victory, the Bobcats were quick to respond after both goals. Jared Fuhs and Nick Rostek provided the offense despite Ohio’s five trips to the penalty box in the period.
As for the final period, it was mostly a battle of attrition as the teams combined for seven penalties. In fact, in the final four minutes of the game, Kent State pulled their goaltender after two Ohio penalties, which left the Bobcats with consecutive 6-on-4 attacks that they successfully killed.
This effort spoke volumes about the Bobcats' talent on defense. They were a perfect 10 for 10 on the penalty kill as Fedor Dushkin picked up 15 saves to record his 11th win of the season.
Ohio also showed its depth on the offensive attack. Similar to last weekend, six players chimed in on the seven goals scored, while 10 had at least one point. In all, the Bobcats put 40 shots on goal for the third straight game compared to the Flashes' 17.
In the five contests with Kent State this season, Ohio outscored the Flashes by an impressive 34-6 margin. This was the final conference battle between the in-state foes, as KSU will move to the GLCHL next season.
Next up for the Bobcats is a semifinal matchup with the Eagles of Robert Morris. They cruised to victory over Indiana Friday night, 7-1, behind four goals from Christopher Cimoch. The two clubs split matchups at Robert Morris earlier in the season.
The puck will drop at 7:30 p.m. from Bird Arena. Also, the other semifinal between Illinois and Lindenwood can be seen in the same venue beginning at 4 p.m.
