On Friday night the men's hockey Buckeyes hosted the first half of a home-and-home series against the veteran Colonials. As has been their pattern this season, the Bucks started slow. However they finished strong and delivered a swift kick to the posterior of Robert Morris.
| Scoring by Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robert Morris | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| RV Ohio State | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
After a slow opening ten minutes, offense erupted in the middle of the first period. RMU jumped out to a 2-0 lead with back-to-back goals from Luke Lynch and Timmy Moore. The scores came a mere 56 seconds apart. Tanner Laczynski fired off a swift response for Ohio State. The sophomore tallied his first goal of the season on a feed from Matt Weis.
| Buckeye Goal Scorers (Assists) | Pd | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Tanner Laczynski (Matt Weis) | 1 | 12:03 |
| PP - John Wiitala (Dakota Joshua, Mason Jobst) | 2 | 1:30 |
| Eugene Fadyeyev (Matt Weis. Sasha Larocque) | 2 | 2:31 |
| Matt Weis (Tanner Laczynski, Sasha Larocque) | 2 | 19:00 |
| Austin Pooley (Tanner Laczynski) | 3 | 12:46 |
The quick strikes continued after the intermission break. Minutes into the middle frame John Wiitala delivered a game tying power play goal. 61 seconds later Eugene Fadyeyev, making just his second appearance in the Bucks’ line up, netted his first collegiate score to give the Buckeyes a 3-2 lead.
At 9:35 of the second period a power play goal from the Colonials’ Daniel Mantenuto knotted the game at three all. It was only the second man-advantage goal allowed by the Buckeye penalty killers this season. They entered the game with 20 successful kills in 21 attempts.
OSU regained its edge late in the period. With exactly one minute remaining, when Michigan still...you know, Weis struck. The senior’s second goal of the year gave Ohio State a 4-3 lead going into the third period.
There was no hope of a comeback for Robert Morris in the final stanza. The Bucks put the pedal to the floor and fired 20 pucks on the Colonials' net. Freshman Austin Pooley potted his first collegiate goal to make it a two goal Buckeye advantage. The rookie is the third Pooley (after Papa Perry and Uncle Paul) to tally for the Bucks.
Two goals would prove to be more than enough cushion for goalie Sean Romeo. He stopped 24 shots in the contest en route to his eleventh career victory. Weis and Laczynski led the Scarlet and Gray with a goal and two assists each. Ohio State outshot Bobby Mo 45-27 in the contest. With the win OSU improves to 4-1-2 on the season.
The Bucks and Colonials now make a quick trip over to Pittsburgh. The teams wrap their series tomorrow night at Robert Morris. Game time is set for 7pm ET.
