The No. 6 men’s hockey Buckeyes put forth a notable effort in a tightly contested game against No. 1 Notre Dame on Friday. However, they were only able to nick stingy netminder Cale Morris once. Meanwhile, the Irish skaters capitalized on a couple of Ohio State miscues and eked out a 2-1 win.
| Scoring by Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 6 Ohio State | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| No. 1 Notre Dame | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
Although they would come away from it down a goal, the Buckeyes actually looked pretty good in the first period. They were the peppier team despite having traveled. They generated some good chances, particularly the line of Kevin Miller, Christian Lampasso, and Ronnie Hein.
| Buckeye Goal Scorer (Assists) | Pd | Time |
|---|---|---|
| PP - Kevin Miller (John Wiitala, Gordi Myer) | 2 | 6:52 |
OSU only slipped up a little in the opening period, but the Irish exploited their mistake. A bad line change or sluggish back check left Andrew Oglevie open on an odd man opportunity. He tapped in his twelfth goal of the year for a 1-0 Notre Dame lead.
The Buckeyes finally broke through in the second period. Unsurprisingly the goal came from the stick of Kevin Miller. The Alberta native cashed in on Ohio State’s second power play of the game. John Wiitala teed him up and Miller punched home the game-tying goal.
That score held until the 9:36 mark. Notre Dame intercepted a Buckeye clearing attempt, held the zone, and crossed up Romeo. Jordan Gross’ shot rolled in and the Irish resumed their one goal lead.
The third period was dominated by special teams. Seven penalties were called in the final frame. But neither side’s power play could take advantage. OSU pulled Romeo for the extra attacker late in the game but try as they might the Bucks couldn’t dent Morris again. The Irish claimed a slim 2-1 victory.
Unlike the earlier match between these teams, the Bucks did not look overmatched tonight. In fact, they frequently looked like the better team. Ohio State didn’t make very many mistakes. Notre Dame just ensured that those few errors were costly ones. Which is, I guess, the sort of thing you should expect from the No. 1 team in the country.
Miller wasn't discouraged after the loss, saying, "I thought we played pretty well for the most part, but we need to capitalize on more of our scoring chances and stay out of the box in order to have success tomorrow."
Head coach Steve Rohlik concurred with his senior forward. "That's a good hockey team. We had our chances. It could have gone either way. We just didn't capitalize on a couple of those power plays late. But our penalty kill kept us in the game. It stood tall and gave us a chance."
The Bucks and Irish tangle again Saturday night at 7pm ET. You can follow along with 1460 AM or stream the game live via NBCSports.com or the NBC Sports app.
- Shots were 32-29 tonight in favor of Ohio State. Kevin Miller led the Bucks with five.
- Ohio State went 1-for-4 on the power play. The Bucks’ top-ranked penalty kill was a perfect 6-for-6.
- See the full boxscore from tonight's game here.
- With no points in tonight’s contest, Matt Weis’ point streak is snapped at 12 games.
- The loss drops the Buckeyes to 18-7-4 overall and 11-7-1-0 in the Big Ten.
- Other B1G results: Michigan claimed a shootout win over Michigan State. Minnesota scored late to top Wisconsin. Penn State is on a bye week.
- Updated B1G standings: Notre Dame 50 points, Ohio State 34, Michigan 29, Wisconsin, 28, Minnesota 26, Penn State 25, Michigan State 15.
