OHIO Hockey
Bobcats sweep Cyclones
By William Strome, Staff Writer
October 1, 2007 | 3:27 p.m.
Ohio hockey returned home this past weekend to host conference rival No. 9 Iowa State University inside Bird Arena. The Bobcats (3-1) won the first meeting of the two-game series on Friday 3-2 and were victorious in a 9-2 romp on Saturday.
The last time these teams went head to head ended in heartbreak for the Bobcats. The Cyclones (0-2) stormed into Bird Arena last February during the second round of the Central States Collegiate Hockey League tournament and stunned the ‘Cats in overtime, 4-3.
Coach Dan Morris expressed his feeling for getting that bitter taste out of his mouth with a downward spitting motion, minus the saliva. Assistant captain and forward senior Jim Fuhs’ response was a little more on the verbal side.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better way to start off my senior year at home,” Fuhs said. “We worked hard this entire week of practice and it showed.”
The season didn’t start in the most ideal fashion for Ohio, after splitting a two-game series against No. 14 West Virginia University in Morgantown on Sept. 21 and 22. The Bobcats were looking to rebound against a tough Iowa State team, opening up their regular season.
“We wanted to prove last week was a fluke,” Fuhs said.
Whether referred to as a fluke, an upset or a disappointment, last weekend was far from a flawless series for the Bobcats, who had difficulty staying out of the penalty box. This weekend it was the other way around as Iowa State sat in the box 25 times relative to Ohio’s 15. The ‘Cats were able to capitalize nicely on the overly aggressive Cyclone penalties with eight power-play goals.
With Ohio scoring on nearly one out of three man-up advantages, Iowa State couldn’t muster up a single power-play goal. The amount of intensity and physical play throughout the series wasn’t to a single fan’s surprise given the number of penalties throughout the series and the bad blood between the two clubs.
“Early on you could see the difference in speed and a lot of intensity,” Morris said. “That’s hockey, though. It’s who executes better ends up winning the game. We were fortunate enough to be able to execute in our own barn.”
Even with the Bobcats’ success at home over the weekend, the Cyclones were the first to score, with 55 seconds remaining in the first period, and captured their only lead of the entire series. Six minutes into the second period, the ‘Cats tied it up on a power-play goal when forward Brett Molnar assisted forward Ryan Tessmer’s first goal of the season on a picture-perfect one-timer.
The Bobcats didn’t strike again until defenseman John Yasak scored on a power play that gave the ‘Cats a 2-1 lead. Only 48 seconds later Ohio put the icing on the cake when forward Brandon Fackey scored his first of the season. Iowa State tacked on another late goal following a defensive breakdown that inevitably proved to be meaningless.
“Even though we went down we didn’t get down on ourselves because of it,” Morris said. “We fought back and got that first goal to take some pressure off. Then we got that second goal and Tommy Ciaverilla made a great play to set up the third. We took a nap for a little giving them that second goal but after that they had very few scoring chances.”
Along with the momentum that carried over from the night before came the physical play. Iowa State committed seven penalties including two game misconducts while Ohio committed only two penalties, including one game misconduct in the first period alone. Iowa State forward Brian Spring got the boot for a check from behind but both Iowa State forward Jeremy Stegall and Ohio forward Clay LaBrosse were kicked out following a fight near the end of the first period.
With Ohio leading 3-1 at the start of the second period, it took a little over five minutes for the Cyclones to cut the ‘Cats lead down to one. One minute and 24 seconds later, the Ohio lead was back to two after forward Jeff Jepson’s goal, set up by forward and assistant captain Dave Fitzgerald.
Over the next period and a half, Ohio rubbed salt in the Cyclones’ wounds by tacking on five unanswered goals, three of which were power-play goals. The Bobcats finished the series sweep of Iowa State with a 9-2 victory.
“There was even better intensity [Saturday] than [Friday],” Fuhs said. “Last weekend we were sharp Friday and flat Saturday. We wanted to have a full weekend.”
Ohio did just that, outscoring the Cyclones 12-4 over the two game series. Next weekend the Bobcats travel to No. 13 Kent State for a second consecutive conference series. Ohio returns home on Oct. 12 and 13 to host Oakland University, the defending American Collegiate Hockey Association national champion.
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