Men's Hockey
OSU advances to Ohio Hockey Classic final
By Jeff Svoboda

Thursday night, the second half of the season for the No. 19 Ohio State men’s hockey team started as auspiciously as the first half. The Buckeyes can only hope that the struggles of the beginning half are not repeated.

Defensemen Matt Waddell and Sean Collins each had a goal and an assist to lead the confident Buckeyes to a 4-0 victory against Holy Cross in the first round of the Ohio Hockey Classic at Nationwide Arena.

The Buckeyes ( 10-6-2 , 6-4-1 CCHA) led off the regular season with a 4-2 road victory against then-No. 6 Colorado College which propelled them to the No. 2 ranking in the polls. However, a five-game winless streak would drop OSU to 2-5-1 , history the team hopes will not be repeated.

“Obviously we weren’t too happy with the first half of the season so we’re coming into the second half excited to kind of start fresh,” Collins said. “We had a good week of practice and we feel confident right now.”

That confidence will be put to the test Friday night, when OSU will face off with No. 2 Miami University for the tournament title. The RedHawks, who defeated Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute 3-2 in overtime to advance, swept OSU in a home-and-home series Nov. 4-5.

Coach John Markell compared the scenario to last season, when OSU faced No. 2 Colorado College in the OHC title game. The teams skated to a 2-2 draw that was thought to be one of the best college hockey games of the regular season.

“I think they’ll be ready to go. It’s our opportunity to play the no 2 team in the nation.” Markell said. “They’re a good hockey team and they’re going to test everything we’ve got.”

Thursday night, OSU outplayed Holy Cross in pretty much every area. The Buckeyes outshot the Crusaders 44-14, never allowing them to notch more than five shots in a period. Senior Dave Caruso returned from an injury to earn his ninth career shutout and third of the season.

Offensively, OSU’s speed and skill forced Holy Cross to take 11 penalties, and the Buckeyes converted the chances into two power-play goals in eight chances.

“We didn’t play very disciplined tonight,” Holy Cross coach Paul Pearl said. “To beat a team like that you have to stay out of the box, play five-on-five and not turn the puck over.”

Both Collins’ and Waddell’s goals came with the man-advantage. Collins scored his fifth goal of the season at the 14:09 mark of the second to make it 2-0. Just five seconds after Crusader defenseman Shane McAdam entered the box for hooking, Collins took the draw and blasted a shot past goaltender Tony Quesada.

Waddell ended the scoring with his second goal in as many games and third of the season. With 3:25 left, he took a cross-ice feed from senior forward Dan Knapp and ripped one past Quesada from the top of the right circle.

The Crusaders employed a passive penalty-kill strategy that gave the Buckeyes time to operate, something which will be contrasted sharply Friday night by Miami ’s swarming penalty kill. Collins said the difference shouldn’t hurt the OSU unit.

“I don’t think it hampers us, just because of the fact that we’re getting chances on the power play,” Collins said. “I think it gives us confidence going in no matter how their penalty kill is. Just the fact that we’re getting chances, we’re moving it around and getting good shots off, I think gives us confidence.”

After being held scoreless during the first six games, junior forward Mathieu Beaudoin scored his seventh goal in 12 games to open the scoring 5:56 into the game, putting home a pass from the left-hand boards from Dave Barton. Fellow junior Kenny Bernard got the third goal 7:56 into the third period when he tapped home a loose puck after sophomore Sam Campbell was stopped by Quesada on a breakaway.

It was the second game in a row that Bernard scored a goal, and the Bernard-Campbell-Kyle Hood checking line continued its excellent play.

“They’re learning their roles,” Markell said. “Moving Hood into center, he’s disciplined; I think Sam Campbell and Kenny Bernard are playing a more disciplined game. They’re understanding what their roles are and how their individual talents can help them out in their roles.”

In net, Caruso twice stopped Holy Cross breakaways and seemed to answer the play of back-up Ian Keserich, who was excellent in the Buckeyes’ last series against Union while Caruso recovered from knee surgery.

“I think Caruso’s always up for the challenge,” Waddell said. “Even our freshman year, when he was the back-up goalie, you could see him working hard. I think Ian kind of challenged him there and he stepped up to the challenge pretty well.”

OSU and Miami will face-off at 8:05 Friday night at Nationwide Arena.

Notes:

--The game will be televised statewide on the Ohio News Network with normal radio announcers Neil Sika and John Mowat on the call. Paul Barnes and Gord Rivington are taking over the WOSU-AM 820 call. WOSU’s broadcast can also be heard at www.wosu.org.

--Holy Cross and RPI will meet in the consolation game starting at 5:05 p.m.

--Last season’s OHC title game between OSU and Colorado College ended in a tie, and Miami ’s game Thursday with RPI was settled with 11 seconds to play in overtime. Should Friday’s games end regulation with a tie score, a five-minute overtime period will be played. If the game is still tied after that, it will officially be recorded as a tie but a five-man shootout will be held to determine the winner for tournament purposes.

--Sophomore forward Tom Fritsche is missing the OHC games as he plays for the United States team in the IIHF World Junior Championships in British Columbia . The U.S. is 2-0, and Fritsche had a goal in the team’s 6-5 victory against Finland Wednesday.

--Sophomore forward Matt McIlvane also missed Thursday’s game. He has an unspecified injury. Jason DeSantis and Nick Biondo were the other scratches for OSU.

Box Score

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