Sports
Bobcats Head to Rutgers before University Games
By: Robbie Dipaola
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After a successful weekend sweep of Delaware, the 2nd-ranked Ohio Bobcats (19-4-1) will hit the road for a weekend series with the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, which will be a crucial series for the Bobcats moving forward.
This series at Rutgers will also be unique because it is the final series before head coach Sean Hogan and four Bobcat players (senior captain Matt Hartman, senior forward Joey Breslin, senior defenseman Michael Lafrenier and sophomore forward Matt Rudin) will all travel to Almaty, Kazakhstan for the 2017 Winter World University Games, which take place from Jan. 28 through Feb. 8.
Losing four key players is never something you want to have happen, but Breslin is confident that even in their absence the team will still be strong.
“Losing four guys is definitely tough,” Breslin said. “But this year we have a lot more depth and some of the guys will now have a bigger role and I am sure they will step up and provide a good all around game in our absence.”
Ohio will once again face a tough goaltender in Chris Marsillo, who has a .922 save percentage on the season. Hogan knows it will be important to attack early so that Marsillo, one of the final three candidates for the national team, does not have a chance to get comfortable.
“We have to do a better job at scoring goals,” Hogan said. “We have to be more consistent. We get a ton of chances on our breakaways and we’re not burying the puck. That is one area that got frustrating for us last weekend, sometimes we try to make an extra play or an extra stick handle move when all we really have to do is get the puck to the net.”
The Bobcats have one of the best special team units in all of the American Collegiate Hockey Association and will look to use that to their advantage this week. Rutgers, on the other hand, has struggled on the power play this season, scoring just eight times in 96 total chances. One area Hogan hopes to see success in this weekend is the team’s power play.
“For us this weekend it will be about our power play, we have to do better with our chances on the power play,” Hogan said. “Their penalty kill is pretty good so we have to make sure to get pucks to the net. As for the penalty kill, we want to stay out of the box for sure, but we’ll be aggressive and try to create our own opportunities.”
Another bit of good news for the team this weekend was the return of most of their players who were out with either an injury or illness last weekend. Even though the Bobcats were without some of their key players, the players who Hogan tapped to fill in for their stepped up in their absence and played well.
The depth of Ohio is something not only coach Hogan but also the players like to talk about because they think their depth as a team is what sets them apart from most teams in the ACHA.
“Our depth is our biggest asset,” Breslin said. “We have five strong lines that can play on any team and be a top line at that school, so it definitely shows a lot about our whole team.”
With only eight games left until their conference tournament, the Bobcats are looking to hit their stride and hit their peak performance just in time for both the CSCHL tournament and ACHA national tournament. But as Hogan reiterated the team cannot look ahead and they need to remain focused on the task at hand this weekend, which is traveling to Rutgers and picking up two victories.
“We are expecting to go out there and play well, whether you are at home or on the road it doesn’t matter, we still have to find a way to win two games.”
Friday’s game will start at 7 p.m. and Saturday’s at 5:30 p.m.