Sports
Hockey: Ohio Sweeps Syracuse With 5-1 Win Saturday
By: Chris Yangas
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The No. 8 Ohio Bobcats (8-2) capped their 2-game sweep over No. 25 Syracuse (6-4), 5-1, on Saturday.
Coming off an intense 1-0 overtime victory on Friday, the ‘Cats were determined to build momentum at home, and, they pounced on the Orange quickly.
Forwards Joey Breslin, Nathan De La Torre and Michael Harris scored goals in the first period to open up a 3-0 lead.
Harris, along with forward Patrick Spellacy, also assisted Breslin in scoring the game’s opening goal.
Coincidentally, De La Torre scored his second goal of the night 9:37 into the second period a mere second before his goal in the first (9:38).
Defenders Paul Sergi and Tyler Pecka assisted De La Torre in giving the Bobcats a 4-0 lead.
Syracuse gasped for breath late in the second period, scoring their first and only goal and making the game, 4-1.
De La Torre glowed “hat trick” when he scored his third goal of the night 12:14 into the third period, finalizing the victory.
Goalie Scott Boyd had 21 saves, and Ohio won the shots on goal, 58-22, in what was another stalwart defensive effort; in fact, only Robert Morris-Illinois has managed to score more than one goal in a game against the Bobcats this season.
Ohio managed to avoid being penalized until midway through the second period when Spellacy was called for a roughing minor; they, however, had seven penalties by the evening’s end.
Penalties or not, the Bobcats’ tenacity has become a recurring element of their style of play, and head coach Sean Hogan says he would rather have it that way.
“Our philosophy is that it makes us harder to play against when we’re aggressive with other teams,” Hogan said. “We want them to be intimidated by how physical we play.”
The ‘Cats have now won 10 consecutive games in Bird Arena.
Their road skill will be tested, as they embark on a 4-game trip to take on No. 13 Illinois and No. 10 Iowa State.
The puck drops at the Big Pond this Friday at 7 p.m.