Sports
Ohio completes third-period comeback to defeat Iowa State 4-3
By: Sofi Houg
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) – Ohio defeated Iowa State 4-3 in a third-period thriller in Bird Arena on Friday night.
When the puck dropped to begin the first period, Ohio had multiple shots on goal but came up short each time. However, Iowa State forward Everett Bestland scored a goal with 13:08 left in the first period during a power play. Despite both teams having 12 shots on goal, Iowa State was on top 1-0 to end the first period.
“I think we had a good effort in the first,” assistant coach Jamieson McVicar said. “Obviously, we had a couple of bad bounces, but we just weren’t in front of the net enough. We just needed to get bodies there in traffic, just because their goalie was playing so well.”
Both teams came out aggressive to start the second period. Not even three minutes into the period, a fight broke out on the ice. John Kovarik of Iowa State and Sam Turner of Ohio found themselves in the penalty box. During this stretch, Everett Bestland found the back of the net once more, giving Iowa State a 2-0 lead. This score remained through the end of the second period.
Heading into the third period, two players for either team had penalty time left on the clock, which brought some energy to the Ohio bench.
With 9:19 to go, Luc Reeve scored for Ohio. Later, Will Cohen tied up the game with 7:11 to spare. After a few minutes of keep away, Cohen did it again, giving Ohio the lead.
“Two guys going hard to the net allowed me to have some room to shoot, and luckily, it went in,” Cohen said. “It was awesome; it was much needed. I’ve been pretty cold lately on the stat sheet with not many goals, so it was good to have tonight for sure.”
After taking a 3-2 lead, the Bobcats began to lock in on defense. That didn’t stop Samuel Dorfman from finding the back of the net to tie the game, 3-3.
The energy was rousing with 23 seconds remaining. Leave it to Laker Aldridge of Ohio to drain the game-winning shot, leading the Bobcats to a 4-3 victory.
Ohio will return to Bird Arena in search of a series sweep against Iowa State on Saturday.