Hockey Bucks Hold On To Tie Arizona State

It is a dangerous week to be a top ranked college hockey team. Five of the top ten teams in the nation have gone down already. No. 14 Western Michigan dethroned No. 1 Denver. RPI pulled off a huge upset of No. 2 Harvard. No. 3 Minnesota-Duluth fell to St. Cloud State. Miami toppled No. 7 North Dakota. And, though it was no upset, No. 8 Boston College fell to No. 5 Boston University.

No. 10 Ohio State nearly joined the ranks of the fallen this afternoon. The Buckeyes escaped with an official tie against the Arizona State Sun Devils. It was a lackluster outing for the Bucks who were consistently outworked by the visitors. A crisp effort by OSU goaltender Christian Frey kept the game from getting out of hand.

The likely turning point of this contest came at the midway mark of the first period. Ohio State was on its first power play of the game when team captain and leading scorer Nick Schilkey got tangled up with an ASU player in front of the net. He hobbled off the ice and, aside from one abbreviated shift, did not return to the game.

Any fire the Buckeyes possessed seemed to leave the ice with Schilkey. OSU went through the motions for the remainder of the period. The Bucks didn’t surrender any goals but they also didn’t put any significant pressure on the Arizona State net until well into the second period.

Despite its captainless torpor Ohio State managed to edge ahead of ASU. The Buckeyes held a 2-1 lead going into the final frame. The Sun Devils drew first blood in the second period when Nashville Predators prospect Wade Murphy netted a power play goal.

The Bucks responded with two scores. Kevin Miller fired home a rebound on a rare shift of sustained Ohio State pressure. Then Mason Jobst streaked in and lit up ASU goalie Robert Levin with a shorthanded tally.

Sophomore Mason Jobst has 12 points in his last 6 games combined, including his first career shorthanded goal today. #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/WFs7Z2fHuX

— Ohio State M Hockey (@OhioState_MHKY) January 15, 2017

But the Buckeyes let their lead slip away. Arizona State launched a desperate late game assault with the extra attacker on. Frey could deny them only so many times. One-time Ohio State commit Tyler Busch tied the score with 26 seconds to go.

Neither side prevailed in the overtime session. Officially the game was recorded as a tie, moving OSU to 11-4-5 on the season. However, since the Buckeyes play in a shootout league, the teams unofficially decided their tilt with a skills competition. Unsurprisingly, the pumped up Sun Devils downed the Bucks in three rounds by a 1-0 margin.

The Buckeyes must rebound quickly now and regain their spark. They renew hostilities with No. 3 Penn State next week. The Nittany Lions host this series with games currently scheduled for 7pm ET starts on both Friday and Saturday.

Buckeye Women Fall to Bemidji State

It was a difficult day for the Ohio State women as well. The Beavers jumped out to an early two goal lead. The Buckeyes never caught up. 

Haley Mack and Lauren Miller tallied for Bemidji in the opening half of the first period. It would be a long time before the Bucks responded but eventually Dani Sadek cut the Beavers’ lead in half with seconds remaining in the middle frame. The Bucks weren’t able to continue their comeback in the third period. Bemidji outshot the home team 11-3. Lisa Laiti added an insurance tally for the Beavers who claimed a 3-1 victory.

The Buckeye women are now 11-11-2 overall and 5-11-2 in the WCHA. They face a tough series at No. 2 Minnesota next week. Games are set for 8pm ET on Friday and 3pm ET on Saturday.