Men's Hockey
Buckeyes and Bulldogs Fit to be Tied
By Jeff Svoboda

Two desperate hockey teams played what seemed like two separate but even games Friday night in Value City Arena.

Both Ferris State and Ohio State entered the contest jockeying to improve positioning in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association standings while trying to stay in the mix for the NCAA tournament. Each also had a losing streak – a four-game slide for OSU and a two-game skid for Ferris State – hanging on their backs.

As a result, the first half of the game was hard-hitting, open and back-and forth, played as though both teams knew how important a win would be. Then in the second half, both teams battened down the hatches and went into defensive mode, as if fully aware how damaging a loss would be.

Through it all, neither team could get much of an upper hand, as the Buckeyes (14-15-5, 10-12-3 CCHA) and Bulldogs (14-12-7, 9-10-6 CCHA) settled for a 3-3 tie in front of 6,169 fans in Value City Arena. The game was so equal that even the coaches sounded like carbon copies of each other after the game.

“Probably a tie is the right way for the game to end tonight,” Ferris State coach Bob Daniels said.

“I thought it was a pretty even game,” Buckeye coach John Markell said.

It was not equal in the shot count, as Ferris State outshot OSU 31-18, mainly because OSU was whistled for eight minor penalties in the first two periods. However, even that evened out, as the Buckeyes scored just after a Bulldog 5-on-3 ended and again on a Ferris State power play.

It also started decidedly unequal, as the Buckeyes are getting quite used to. For the fourth straight game, the Buckeyes gave up a goal within the first three minutes. The Bulldogs’ leading scorer, senior Greg Rallo, buried a rebound on a power-play shot from the point at the 2:10 mark to make it 1-0.

Then, at the 5:59 mark, junior left wing Mark Bomersback broke in along the left wing, got OSU goaltender Dave Caurso to move to his left and sent the puck back to his right and into the net to up the lead to 2-0.

Rather than be shell-shocked, the Buckeyes quickly got a goal back. Kyle Hood converted a 3-on-1 chance by beating freshman goaltender Mitch O’Keefe on a blown line change by Ferris State.

“We made a real tough mistake when they scored their first goal,” Daniels said. “We made a real poor change, and all of a sudden – out of really what looked like nothing – was a 3-on-1, then a breakaway. I think that breathed some life into them.”

It was nothing compared to what a couple penalty kills would do for OSU in the second. Moments after killing a Ferris State 5-on-3 opportunity, Matt Waddell drilled a slap shot from the right point that beat O’Keefe and equalized the score.

Less than two minutes later, with Ferris State on another power play, sophomore Matt McIlvane intercepted a pass at the blue line, skated in alone, and beat O’Keefe over his glove to give OSU its first and only lead at the 11:11 mark of the second.

McIlvane said the Buckeye comeback was a product of positive thinking for a team that had acknowledged it was “mentally fragile” after a 6-3 loss against No. 2 Miami Tuesday.

“I think the biggest thing is that we stayed positive throughout the whole time,” he said. “You could feel it on the bench that we were all up. No one was ready to back down. We didn’t let the adversity get the better of us.”

The lead was short-lived though. Defenseman Jeremy Scherlinck scored 1:03 later while Ferris State was still on the power play to knot the score again.

From there, the hockey played was close to the vest. Neither team reached double digits in shots for the third period and overtime combined, leaving the coaches sounding alike again.

“5-on-5 in the third, maybe the whole second half of the game and in overtime, I thought it was very cautious,” Daniels said.

“There were opportunities on both sides, but somewhat cautious opportunities,” Markell said.

Given that the Buckeyes could dress only 19 players – senior Dan Knapp will miss the series after aggravating an early-season shoulder injury – Markell said the Buckeyes could not afford to take the 10 minor penalties and allow the two power-play goals that they did.

“We have to stay out of the box,” Markell said. “We spot a team two goals in the first period, then we take five or six penalties. We’re draining ourselves of our energy. When you only have 19 guys, we can’t keep doing that. We can’t do that.”

The Buckeyes finished 0-for-7 on the power play. Caruso made 28 saves and O’Keefe 15. The Bulldogs now sit in a tie for sixth place in the CCHA and the Buckeyes are tied for eighth.

The final regular-season home game of the season will be a rematch of the two teams Saturday night at 8:05 p.m. It will be fan appreciation night, and the seniors – Caruso, Knapp, forward Rod Pelley and captain Nate Guenin – will be honored after the game.

Game Photos

Box Score

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