Momentum, confidence carry 'Cats into conference tournament
By William Strome, Staff Writer
February 16, 2008 | 6 a.m.
This weekend the Bobcats embark to the “Big Pond” to accomplish a feat they have not done since the 2004-2005 season -- bring a conference championship back to Athens.
Fortunately for the Bobcats, they have been playing their best hockey of the season the past few weeks and are coasting into the Central States Collegiate Hockey League Tournament with a great deal of momentum and even more confidence, riding a four-game winning streak.
“It’s never about how you start the season but how you finish,” forward Jim Fuhs said. “We put a string of wins together and that’s a big accomplishment but our main focus now is to win the tournament.”
With their sweep of Kent State last weekend, Ohio (22-13, 12-8 CSCHL) locked up the No. 3 seed and is set to play sixth-seeded Eastern Michigan (21-16, 11-11 CSCHL), 1 p.m. CST on Friday Feb. 15 at the University of Illinois Arena. The Bobcats and Eagles split a two-game series earlier in the season in Ann Arbor where Eastern Michigan plays their home games.
“That was during the lowest point of our season,” goalie Chris Carlson said. “We have that revenge factor now.”
Fuhs felt the same way.
“The difference between us then and us now has been our focus, determination and hard work,” he said. “We have been able to put full weekends together and this weekend is no different with three games in three nights. No one is going to lay down for us so we have to come prepared every night.”
Prior to the trip to Eastern Michigan, Ohio had split three of their last five series' and was swept on the road against conference-foe Lindenwood. Since the split series with the Eagles, the Bobcats have gone 13-6, including four series sweeps.
“I’d say we’re peaking at the right time,” Carlson said. “We’ve had a lot of ups and downs this year but if you’re riding on a high all year and lose, you don’t know how to deal with that loss. You have to hit that valley and work your way back up to see what you’re really made of.”
Over the 19-game span since the teams last met, Ohio has averaged more than 5.3 goals per game while holding the opposition to under two.
“It’s been our conditioning and depth that has enabled us to put teams away,” coach Dan Morris said. “As the season wears on, teams wear down. Everyone has been playing well with their lines and that kind of chemistry gives us a huge advantage.”
Defender Mike Peota concurred.
“Everyone has bought into Coach’s system,” Peota said. “We’ve had much better execution and we feel we have a lot to prove this weekend against Eastern Michigan.”
The Eagles, on the other hand, have not won a series since Jan. 11 and 12 when they swept Robert Morris on the road. Since then, the Eagles have gone 2-6 and have been swept by Lindenwood and Grand Valley State. Their offense over the course of the season has averaged four goals a game while giving up 3.6. One of the few offensive threats they have had all season has been the consistent play of center Joe Schweiger.
However, since his three-point game (one goal, two assists) against Western Michigan on Jan. 25, Schweiger has missed three of five games and could only muster up a single assist in their split series this past weekend against Michigan-Dearborn. On the season, Schweiger has tallied 52 total points including 29 in conference play, fifth best in the CSCHL. Against Ohio in early November, Schweiger scored one goal on an Eagles power play and found his way to the penalty box seven times for a total of 14 minutes.
“This is a good match-up for both teams,” Morris said. “At this point in the season this game is against two different teams in two different venues. When we last played them they were at home and had the advantage, they don’t have that this time.”
Last season, the Bobcats hosted the tournament where they were upset in the second round by Iowa State, 4-3, in overtime. The Cyclones, who split a two-game series earlier in the year against Ohio, went on to beat Illinois in the championship for their 12th conference championship in team history. Prior to the semifinal loss, the Bobcats had played in four consecutive championship games including two titles.
Other first round match-ups on Friday:
No. 4 Iowa State (25-11, 10-8 CSCHL) vs. No. 5 Kent State (21-13, 10-10 CSCHL)
10 a.m. CST
While Kent State was swept last weekend in the confines of Bird Arena, Iowa State split a two-game series against the University of St. Thomas at home. Prior to being swept at home the weekend before by Illinois, the Cyclones had won 14 straight games. On Nov. 16 and 17 at Kent, the Golden Flashes swept the visiting Cyclones during their only two meetings of the season.
No. 2 Lindenwood (25-7, 16-2 CSCHL) vs. No. 7 Western Michigan (21-14, 11-11 CSCHL)
4 p.m. CST
Lindenwood swept Western Michigan in mid-November during their mid-season 11-game win streak. In their last seven games, Lindenwood’s offense has averaged almost nine goals per game (62 points). Western Michigan has only scored nine or more goals twice this season.
No. 1 Illinois (29-0, 18-0 CSCHL) vs. No. 8 Robert Morris (12-22, 5-15 CSCHL)
7 p.m. CST
Illinois is the only undefeated team in the nation and is coming off a sweep of Robert Morris on the road where they outscored the Eagles 11-3. Robert Morris has given up 174 goals this season, second most in the conference behind Michigan Dearborn (184), and 127 more than Illinois allowed (47), which is the nation's lowest for teams having played 20 games or more.