Menâs Hockey: Buckeyes Open CCHA Playoffs with 4-3 Win
MARQUETTE, Mich. â The Ohio State menâs hockey team opened the first round of the CCHA playoffs with a 4-3 victory over the host Northern Michigan Wildcats Friday in the Berry Events Center. Seniors
Tommy Goebel and
Jason DeSantis led the Buckeyes with three points each, on a goal and two assists, as the Buckeyes took a 1-0 lead in the best of three series.
The No. 11 seed Buckeyes (12-23-4) and No. 6 Wildcats (15-18-4) will meet in game two at 7:35 p.m. Saturday at the Berry Events Center.
The Buckeyes held a 2-1 lead after the first period. Goebel, from Parma, Ohio, opened the scoring at 6:34, as freshman
John Albert, the teamâs assist leader, led him through the neutral zone. Goebel carried the puck deep into the NMU zone and his backhand shot got past Wildcat goalie Brian Stewart on the short side for his team-best 21st goal of the season. The Wildcats tied the game at 15:39, converting their only power-play chance of the period. Jared Brown took a pass from Matt Siddall and his shot from the left point got through traffic and in to tie the game at 1. Freshman
Patrick Schafer put Ohio State back ahead with 1:21 left in the period. Senior defenseman
Johann Kroll started the play up ice to freshman
Peter Boyd. Boyd passed on to classmate
Kyle Reed. His shot was saved, but rookie
Patrick Schafer was there to lift the puck into the net for his fourth goal of the year. The Buckeyes were outshot in the period, 7-5. Ohio State had one power-play chance in the period.
Ohio State went ahead, 3-1, on a DeSantis goal at 10:47 of the second period. Goebel picked up a Northern clearning attempt along the wall and held it until he found DeSantis open in the slot. DeSantis made a play to beat his defenseman and then deked the goalie, backhanding the puck over Stewart. Freshman
Todd Rudasill made the score 4-1 when he put in the rebound of a DeSantis shot with the Buckeyes on the power play, with Goebel picking up the second assist. Buckeye goalie
Joseph Palmer stopped all 11 shots he faced in the period, including two point-blank stops on Matt Butcher, who was all alone in front of the net, while on the penalty kill and the Buckeyes still holding a one-goal lead. The Buckeyes were 3-for-3 on the penalty kill and converted 1-of-2 chances of their own.
The Buckeyes held their three-goal lead until the Wildcats scored twice in the final 3:53 of the third period, cutting the lead to one. Northernâs Matt Siddall scored after a scramble in front at 16:07. With the teams skating 4-on-4, NMU pulled Stewart for a 5-on-4 advantage and converted at 18:04 when TJ Millerâs shot got through. Palmer made 10 saves in the period, as the Wildcats outshot the Buckeyes, 12-5. Northern ended the game with the net empty, but the Buckeye defense held strong for the win to take the series lead.
The Buckeyes were outshot in the game, 30-18. Palmer made 27 saves in all 60 minutes. Stewart had 14 stops in 56:55.
Each team had one power-play goal in four chances.
Have fun Tanker, college hockey is a blast!