It was a tale of two halves, and of yet another uneven performance. In the first half Ohio State struggled mightily. And then in the second, Dartmouth could do nothing right. In the end, the Buckeyes doubled up a game opponent while still answering almost zero of the lingering questions surrounding this team.
Ohio State was a sieve in the first quarter, allowing Dartmouth to score 4 goals on 7 shots. That's astronomically better than Dartmouth had performed all year. That is also 66% of their goals scored all game.
Skylar Wahlund got the start in net, and after a rough opening quarter, settled in nicely. Wahlund ended up with 12 saves and 6 goals allowed. That'll do on a Tuesday evening against Dartmouth. The Buckeyes need this to continue against conference opponents.
Offensively, the Buckeyes were mediocre in the first half. They shot just 27%, 6 of 22, and didn't exactly look spectacular. The second half, was similar, although the Buckeyes really took control in Q3 by scoring 5 goals on 17 shots. After pitching a shutout, that kind of turnaround will do it every time.
Even converting at 27%, while looking creaky, the Buckeyes did enough to win against one of the stingiest units in the game. That counts for something.
Defensively, if the Buckeyes can replicate the second half effort against the entire Big Ten, this will be a pleasant year. If the first quarter D shows up, Rutgers is going to put the game out of reach in 15 minutes on Sunday.
Kudos again to Skylar Wahlund. I don't like this goalie carousel from Coach Myers at all, but Wahlund continues to hang tough. At this point, the staff needs to find two transfer goalies this off-season, and just hope Fyock doesn't flip before November. The unit is that porous.
Special teams weren't great today, as the Buckeyes let Dartmouth have their way. But one game isn't make or break.
Justin Inacio recovered somewhat as well today, going 13-20 at the dot. Getting 65% of your draws is pretty good, and a nice return to normalcy just in time for Big Ten play.
All in all, a decent win as the Buckeyes turn all eyes toward Piscataway on the 27th. This is a HUGE matchup, and short prep/recovery time won't help matters. The world to play for these next four weeks.
Go Bucks!
