Sports
Ohio Hockey Travels for First Away Series of Season
By: Robbie Dipaola
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After three successful weekends at home, the 4th-ranked Ohio Bobcats set out for their first road series of the season, as they will battle conference foe Robert Morris.
In the past few seasons, these two conference opponents have had some close contests with one another and head coach Sean Hogan knows just what to expect when you play a Robert Morris hockey team.
“They are always very well coached, always very well disciplined and they are always fast,” Hogan said. “They do not ever really have one or two unbelievable guys but throughout their team they are always very fast so it will be a battle for sure.”
Hogan seemed to stress several times this week that getting off to a solid start in conference play is something he believes is quite important, especially in a league like the Central States Collegiate Hockey League.
“It’s really important in our league,” Hogan said. “With out league being so hard, each week every team is so competitive, so to get up two games would be huge for us for sure.”
Being on the road is always a test for any team, especially against a Top 25 team, and with nine freshmen making their first trip away from Bird Arena, relying on the senior leadership will be something the Bobcats must do this weekend.
When asked about what he and the other seniors would tell the freshman about their first road trip, senior Adam Steranko said, “Just have fun with, it’s an experience and we all come from teams where we traveled before so we’re all kind of used to it so just have fun with it.”
As for areas to improve on heading into this weekend, both Hogan and Steranko seemed to stress the importance of working on improving their power play and penalty kill. Both have been a strong point of emphasis so far this season.
“Yeah (our special teams) have been good but there is always room for improvement,” Hogan said. “On the power play we have to move the puck a little quicker and play with more urgency and get the puck to the net.”
As for Steranko, he was clear that the Bobcats specials teams, specifically their power play, is not a weakness, just an area that needs the most attention as Ohio prepares for Robert Morris.
“Special teams play a huge role in a game, these games are going to be really tight so I think if our power play is great then we’ll have an excellent weekend and come out on top and get a sweep.”
As for an area where the Bobcats may have an edge this series, Steranko believes there are a couple areas as a team where they have an advantage over Robert Morris.
“I think our speed is going to be a big deal,” Steranko said. “We have a lot of skilled guys who have speed so if we play fast they won’t be able to keep up with us, but at the same time we also want to maintain a strong, physical presence.”
The puck drops at 7:30 on both Friday and Saturday.