Sports
Ohio Stays Perfect, Routes West Virginia 8-1
By: Janie Dulaney
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The Ohio Bobcats extended their perfect 5-0 record with an 8-1 win over visiting West Virginia University on Friday night. This was the first start for goalie Jacob Bloomfield, after spending two years playing for the American Collegiate Hockey Association, Division II.
The Bobcats came out of the gate soaring, with an early power play goal from Michael Lafrenier, assisted by Tyler Pecka and Captain Michael Harris just 1:32 into the game. Next came a goal from Mike Palasics, his first of the 2015-16 season, with 16:17 left to play in the first period.
Despite good defense from the Cats’, WVU’s Tyler Conaway was able to get one past Bloomfield on a power play with 12:00 remaining in the first, after Drew Crandall was sent to the box for slashing.
With 5:08 left to play, Liam Geither netted one making it 3-1 heading into the 1st intermission for the Bobcats. They finished the period with 16 shots on goal, compared to WVU’s 6 shots.
During the 1st intermission several players from the 1980’s era of Bobcat’s Hockey were honored for their time on the team, while shaking the hands of the current players before they headed to the dressing room to prepare for the second period.
Scoring straight out of intermission was captain Michael Harris with just 1:05 gone in the second, assisted by Mathew Hartman and Patrick Spellacy. Pecka then took the Bobcats to 5-1 on a goal assisted by Gabe Lapoon and Lafrenier. Bryan Lubin got a penalty for tripping with 9:42 left in the 2nd, a penalty that the Bobcats killed off.
Things got a little bit testy when WVU’s James Murray received a five-minute major as well as a game misconduct for elbowing with 6:28 remaining in the 2nd, while Ohio’s Matt Rudin got a two-minute penalty for roughing. Lubin did appear to be hurt on the play, staying down for a while before being helped off the ice by teammates.
Ohio killed off that penalty, then getting the 1-man advantage for the remaining time, scoring a power play goal, Moore slapped in to give the ‘Cats a 6-1 lead with 2:30 left in the 2nd period. During the third period, Harris scored his second of the night to make it 7-1 with 19:22 left to play in the game. Alex Vazquez was then sent back to the box for cross checking, putting WVU on a power play with 7:30 to go in the 3rd period. Palasics put the icing on the cake for the Cats’ netting his 2nd goal of the night to make it 8-1 with 18 seconds to play.
Bloomfield finished off the game strong, only allowing the one goal in the first period. Bloomfield was impressed with his performance after the game, “you never know when you’re going to get to start again, on a team with three goalies that are all the same age, so you know whenever that time does come again, I will definitely have the confidence to go out and repeat the same performance.”
The three stars of the game were Pecka, with one goal and an assist, Lafrenier, adding 2 assists and 1 goal, and Harris, picking up 2 goals and 1 assist. When asked about the game tomorrow at WVU, Harris seemed to have a good amount of confidence, “it’s only a two-and-a-half-hour drive, so we don’t really consider that a road game, just a home away from home I guess.”