Sports
Ohio Hockey squeaks by Liberty with 2-1 win opening weekend series
By: Thomas Henry
Posted on:
ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — The Ohio Hockey Team (26-5-0) came away with a narrow 2-1 victory over Liberty University (18-9-0) at Bird Ice Arena on Friday evening to open up Valentine’s Day Weekend.
Despite being separated by five teams in the ACHA Division I, this game remained close the whole way through. Both teams battled it out on defense through the first period, before Ohio broke the scoreless tie on a goal by forward Drake Albers with a little over five minutes left in the period.
The second period was a defensive showcase, with both teams’ defensive game plans holding the other at bay. The Bobcats continued their onslaught of shots on goal against the Flames but were denied all 12 times during the second period. After two periods were in the books, Ohio had registered 22 shots on goal to Liberty’s seven, but it remained a one score contest heading into the third.
As the two teams moved into the third period, things remained more of the same. Liberty’s strong defensive efforts were finally rewarded when Michael Fischer scored a goal to tie the score, 1-1.
With the clock moving to under 10 minutes left to play, the possibility of overtime looked like more of a possibility with each passing minute as Ohio continued to have their scoring attempts denied. With under five minutes left in the period, Ohio forward
Nolan Abraham came up clutch with a goal to give Ohio the lead and sold-out Bird Ice Arena crowd into a frenzy.
The Flames fought hard in the final two minutes, instituting a power play and putting together a relentless attack on Ohio’s goal as they pushed to take the game into overtime.
Ohio goalie Scott Bird kept his eye on the puck and Liberty out of the goal, allowing Ohio to finish the nail-biting game with a win.
With the win, Ohio only has three games left before its regular season concludes.
After that, there will be a two-week break before the ACHA National Tournament begins, stretching from March 12-March 17. Ohio will enter the tournament in an advantageous position with sole possession of first place in the MD1 Independent Division.Ohio and Liberty will face off one more time on Valentine’s Day evening at 5:00 p.m. in Athens before Ohio follows Liberty home back to Lynchburg, Virginia for a two-game series to conclude the regular season. Both of those games will be at 7:00 p.m.