Sports
Ohio Hockey starts season off strong with a convincing win over Syracuse
By: Greyson Bumgardner
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) – It was banner night in Athens to kick off the 2026-27 season for the Ohio Bobcats (1-0). They were set to face off against the Syracuse Orangemen (0-1) in a much-anticipated season opener. With the Bobcats being the reigning ACHA National Champions and the No. 1 ranked team in the country, they were looking to start the season off strong. The game would result in a very convincing victory for the Bobcats, with a final score of 9-0.
The offensive attacks started early for the Bobcats. Will Cohen would score a goal just over three minutes into the game to start off the season. Two minutes later, Alex Thomas would knock another in, increasing the Bobcats’ lead to 2-0.
This would be the start of a long night for Syracuse goalie Cash Lawrence. The goals just kept coming in the first period, with Blake Dustin and Barron Stibbe each getting one of their own. The score was 4-0 in the Bobcats’ favor at the end of the first.
It was a very physical game from the start. A few minutes after the Bobcats’ fourth goal, a confrontation between an Ohio and Syracuse player led to two-minute violations for each player.
The Bobcats would respond early in the second period with Will Cohen scoring his second goal to increase the lead to five. Shortly after, Ben Brant of the Orangemen was assessed a 10-minute misconduct penalty, which unfortunately for the Orangemen, would not be his only one of the game.
This would be followed by two more goals from the Bobcats, one from Laker Aldridge, his first of the year, and another from Will Cohen, who secured a hat trick in the season opener.
With 12 seconds remaining in the period, Ohio’s Matt Witt would be assessed a roughing penalty after an altercation resulted in a Syracuse player on the ground. The second period would end with the Bobcats up 7-0.
The final period started almost exactly as everyone in the arena was guessing it would. With tensions high the whole game, it finally boiled over when Ohio goalie Matt Zazon had his helmet knocked off during a hit. This resulted in a scuffle between many of the players on both teams but ultimately ended with two Syracuse players being assessed two-minute penalties.
The Bobcats capitalized on this power play 10 seconds later with Mathieu Ovaert scoring his first goal of the season. Seven minutes later, the Bobcats would score again, this time from Breyden Zupsansky. The goal from Zupsansky would be assisted by Alex Thomas, giving him his third assist of the night. It was during this goal that Ben Brant of the Orangemen would be assessed his second 10-minute misconduct penalty, essentially taking him out of the rest of the game.
With the score now 9-0, the Bobcats had the game well in hand. While the scoring was done for the game, the tensions and altercations were not. The Bobcats were assessed for multiple penalties in the final six minutes, including tripping, slashing, and a 10-minute misconduct penalty. When the final buzzer sounded, the Bobcats started the season off 1-0.
The biggest deciding factor in the game was the Ohio defense. While the score was lopsided, the shots-on-goal were also lopsided. Ohio had 58 while Syracuse only had 28. They will match up against Syracuse again on September 26 at 7 p.m.