Today had the makings of a letdown day, and it appears that's exactly what happened. Ohio State pulled out a grinding victory over Hofstra, 12-10, and faded badly down the stretch. It was about as ugly a win as you could expect, given that the attackmen went a collective 4-16 shooting. This was a week after going gangbusters against Cornell's pressure D.
Given the Buckeyes' reliance on the attack unit to generate scoring, if they can't beat their poles, it's always going to be a long day. And so it was. At the very least, Ohio State can hang their hat on a victory. That's not nothing.
Offensively, Ohio State was day and night between the 1st and second halfs. Griffin Hughes put in two goals in half one, the Buckeyes as a whole were rolling, and the D kept Hofstra to just 3 tallies.
Ohio State took 27 shots in the first half, and just 13 in the second. Obviously, the goal tally was nearly identical at exactly half of the 1st half mark. Ohio State also had 14 shots on goal in the 1st half, with only 7 in the second. The second half was, without a doubt, much poorer than the first by nearly every possible metric.
Only the 5 goal margin of victory in the first half kept Hofstra from pulling an upset they had no right even coming close to. This sort of mental turnoff is not going to cut it against Notre Dame on Tuesday, and Denver a week from now. The Buckeyes HAVE to bring their A game for all 4 quarters.
Defensively, the Buckeyes did what they needed to do to get a victory. Hofstra had an abysmal shooting percentage of .217, Ryan Tierney only had 1 goal on 8 shots, and, aside from the volume of shots faced, had nothing really to complain about.
There were 2 failed clears by the defense, but when your opponent takes nearly 50 shots, you know it's going to be a long day. And, if we're also being honest, the D was bailed out by an incredible performance from goalkeeper Josh Kirson.
I have been harsh in my criticism of Josh Kirson for a variety of reasons, mostly having to do with the fact that he has had long stretches of atrocious play in the B1G. But today, the Buckeyes do not win without Kirson. Full stop.
The redshirt junior absolutely killed it with 19 saves today, and an outlandish save percentage of .655. Kirson 100% was the difference between a win and a loss today, and deserves all the kudos in the world. Well done, and keep it up this week, Mr. Kirson!
At the faceoff X, Justin Inacio had an overall decent day. He won 54% of his faceoffs, and helped Ohio State jump out to their early lead.
In the second half, Inacio fell off a bit, but things ended up okay. The Buckeyes got the win, Inacio did enough to outduel a pretty good FOGO, and the Buckeyes now move on to some really tough opponents.
Special teams were actually pretty quiet, making this the only part of my prediction I got right. Buckeyes failed on their one opportunity, continuing a dismal performance offensively. It's already cost them a winnable game. This is just atrocious.
Holistically, Ohio State at least deserves credit for grinding out a win at home with more serious opposition on the horizon. The worrisome part of this performance is the lack of consistency at the attack. Those three players are where Ohio State will win or lose the remainder of their games, and 25% shooting isn't going to cut it.
Not by a long shot. Still, a win is a win, and Ohio State has a date with Notre Dame in a few days. Gear up, this is where things will become clear.
Go Bucks!
