The men’s hockey Buckeyes saw their first game action this afternoon in an exhibition tilt against Ryerson. As you might expect in a preseason outing, the team’s strengths and weaknesses were both clearly on display.
| scoring by period | 1 | 2 | 3 | final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ryerson | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 |
| Ohio State | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
The Buckeyes’ offense commanded the game in its early stages. Janik Moser put the Scarlet and Gray on the board first with an assist from leading returning scorer and team captain Mason Jobst. Fellow blueliner Gordi Myer netted a second Ohio State goal at the 13:19 mark.
Ryerson struck back quickly with a tally from Aaron Armstrong, but Philadelphia Flyers prospect Tanner Laczynski swiftly regained the Bucks’ two-goal cushion and Freddy Gerard put OSU ahead 4-1 with an early second period lamp lighter.
| pd | time | buckeye goal scorers (assists) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3:23 | Janik Moser (Mason Jobst) |
| 1 | 13:19 | Gordi Myer (Brendon Kearney, Austin Pooley) |
| 1 | 15:17 | Tanner Laczynski (unassisted) |
| 2 | 5:01 | Freddy Gerard (Matt Weis, Brendon Kearney) |
Then, in the middle of the frame, back-to-back tallies from Ryerson’s Vince Figliomeni and John Carpino all but erased Ohio State’s lead. Ryerson carried the momentum into the second intermission and poured the pressure on the Buckeyes in the third period. The visitors out shot the Bucks 14-4 and reeled off four goals in the final three and a half minutes of the frame to claim a 7-4 win.
Junior goaltender Sean Romeo started the game for the Buckeyes and remained in net for the duration. He stopped 26 of Ryerson’s 33 shots. OSU registered 30 shots on Ryerson goalie Taylor Dupuis. Ohio State’s power play was 0-for-4 tries in the contest while Ryerson went 1-for-3, the one conversion being the game-tying goal.
The issues the Bucks displayed today aren’t surprising ones. We knew this team could still generate a bunch of scoring, but defensively we expected some struggles. This is probably going to be the challenge for the team all season, to see whether the offense can tip the scales in favor of victory while the defense finds its footing.
Ohio State has a long way to go and a short time to get there. The season gets underway next week with a road trip to Wisconsin. That’s right. Big Ten hockey on Day 1.
