On Saturday the Buckeyes and Colonials wrapped up their home-and-home series in Pittsburgh. Ohio State owned the momentum going into the game. The Bucks powered to a 5-3 victory over Bobby Mo in Columbus on Friday. They employed much the same game plan on Saturday with similar results.
| Scoring by Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RV Ohio State | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Robert Morris | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
The teams began the contest deadlocked at zero and continued that way for over 21 minutes. Neither side gained an advantage over the other in a scoreless opening period. Statistically - shots, faceoffs, etc. - the frame was almost a dead heat.
| Buckeye Goal Scorers (Assists) | Pd | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Matt Miller (Michael Rounds, Matt Weis) | 3 | 1:34 |
| Tanner Laczynski (Janik Moser, Wyatt Ege) | 3 | 17:29 |
| EN - Tanner Laczynski (Mason Jobst) | 3 | 19:52 |
The second period was also scoreless. The action was far from even, though. Ohio State ramped up the offense and poured 15 shots on RMU goalie Andrew Pikul. OSU’s Sean Romeo was less busy, posting three saves in the stanza, but still did not yield an inch of net.
Ohio State finally dented Pikul in the third period. Sophomore defenseman Matt Miller ripped the goal, his second of the season. Michael Rounds helped orchestrate the score. The assist was the freshman d-man’s first career point. It came in his first collegiate game.
The Bucks continued to assault the RMU net. They ran the shot count to 11-1 in the first seven minutes of the third period. Pikul stood tall, though, and soon enough the Colonials rewarded him with a game tying goal.
A poorly timed penalty to Sam McCormick brought the Buckeye momentum to a halt. On the ensuing power play Bobby Mo’s Alex Tonge knotted the contest at 1-1. The Bucks survived a scare a few minutes later when Luke Lynch appeared to score a go-ahead goal for RMU. Further review, however, overturned the tally.
Ohio State got back to work. As time ticked down in the game, Tanner Laczynski lit up Pikul with his second goal in as many games. This would turn out to be the gamewinner.
Laczynski added an empty netter with eight seconds left on the clock to seal the win for the Buckeyes. After being held off the board in the season’s first four games, the Philadelphia Flyers prospect has three goals and six assists in the last four outings.
The Bucks crushed the Colonials in shots in the game, holding a 40-14 advantage. Romeo made 13 saves to pick up his fifth win of the season. He and the team each own a 5-1-2 record on the year.
OSU heads home now for next week’s Big Ten showdown with No. 8 Notre Dame. Both games are set for 7pm ET starts. Friday’s contest will air live on BTN.
