Men's Hockey
Buckeyes Eliminate Bulldogs in CCHA Playoff Thriller
By Paula C. Weston
Freshman John Dingle's goal at 4:40 in overtime was the only lead the
Buckeyes gained on the night, but it was the only one that counted, as
the No. 2 seed Ohio State finally squeaked by No. 11 Ferris State,
5-4, in overtime, to advance to the Central Collegiate Hockey
Association Super Six Championship series in Detroit's Joe Louis Arena
next weekend.
It was youth that propelled the Bucks past the tenacious Bulldogs.
Freshmen Tom Fritsche and John DeSantis each had a goal, and sophomore
Matt Beaudoin netted two in the contest.
For the rookies, it was just business as usual, said head coach John Markell.
"They're here to play hockey. That's why we recruited them here.
We're excited about the fact that they've got that kind of experience
because they're going to need it from here on in.
"It was enormous for us to get these kids through this experience.
That first playoff series as young collegians is really, really tough,
especially when we only had two seniors in the lineup."
JB Bittner and Lee Spector may have been the only two Buckeye seniors
in the lineup, but they provided the inspiration for the rest of the
OSU bench.
"I look at JB Bittner, and I don't know, I just want to do everything
I can," said junior Rod Pelley. "I didn't want to see that look in his
eyes in his last game."
Beaudoin, whose shorthanded tally in the third period pulled the
Buckeyes to within one of the Bulldogs with just 10 minutes to go,
echoed Pelley's sentiments. "I looked at Lee Spector on the bench,
and he said, 'Bodes, take my energy. Take it, take it. Go get it.'"
Go get it they did, after having to come from behind three times in
the contest, one night after being shut out, 1-0, in overtime.
"We imposed our will on Ferris," said Markell. "You've got to
compliment not only Ferris but our league. That's how tough our
league is. You look at Ferris State. Do they deserve to be where
they are? No. It just goes to show you that a goal here, a goal
there can change a season. That's a very good hockey club and they
gave us fits all weekend."
FSU senior Derek Nesbitt had two goals in the contest, including a
four-on-three power-play goal at 4:56 in the first, giving the
Bulldogs a 1-0 lead after one. Nesbitt's shot from the slot on a pass
from Greg Rallo hit Caruso in the blocker and then squibbed into the
net, slow motion, just crossing the goal line before Caruso could
reach back to glove it.
It was 2-1 after two as the Buckeyes and Bulldogs exchanged goals in
the middle stanza, with Matt Beaudoin netting his first of the night
at 2:48, on the power play. Beaudoin, camped at the left post, took
Andrew Schembri's cross-crease pass and put it in short side, scoring
at 2:48 on the same shot, same set up, that he'd missed on just
seconds before.
Nesbitt scored his second at 12:58, also on the power play, picking up
the rebound of Rallo's shot, which hit Buckeye defender Nate Guenin in
the skate and bounced back to Nesbitt at the top of the left circle.
Nesbitt's shot beat Caruso long and clean to give the Bulldogs the
lead again.
While the Bulldogs played the same trapping style that thoroughly shut
down the Buckeyes in their 1-0 Saturday win through the first two
periods of this contest, FSU head coach Bob Daniels said he knew that
an FSU victory was a long way off.
"I guess I never really thought we had it," said Daniels. "I remember
saying to one of the assistants on the way out of the ice to the third
[period], 'Boy, we've got a lot of hockey ahead of us here.' I just
knew the last 20 minutes, regardless of how that went, would take an
eternity.
"We knew there was going to be a late surge, and we knew we were going
to have to be strong around the net and get some breaks. I thought
that when the puck hit the pipes in one of their scrambles around the
net, for the moment I thought, 'Gee, maybe things will bounce our way
here.'"
The Buckeyes came out with a renewed effort in the third, starting
with Fritsche's goal from the right circle at 1:58 to once again tie
the game, but the Bulldogs took a 4-2 lead on goals by Matt
Stefanishion at 3:18 and Jeff Legue at 6:18, and it looked as though
FSU would pull off the upset.
Until Beaudoin scored shorthanded at 9:55, that is. Beaudoin stole the
puck in the OSU zone and passed up to Kenny Bernard, who shuffled back
to the streaking Beaudoin. Beaudoin's rocket from the bottom of the
left circle beat Brown far side.
"When Matt buried that, you could feel it on the bench that it was at we were rolling," said Dingle.
From that point on, the Buckeyes rolled, firing on Brown nearly at
will and keeping the majority of the play confined to the FSU zone.
Then, with less than a minute to go and with Caruso just about to
leave the ice for the extra attacker, DeSantis launched a rocket from
the top of the left circle and tied the game, with 49.8 seconds to go
in regulation.
Daniels said that he thought the Bulldogs did "a pretty good job of
surviving" the momentum from Beaudoin's shorthanded goal, but that
giving up the tying marker in the closing minute of play was a killer.
"Once we got down to under two minutes, I felt pretty good about the
fact that any momentum they may have gained from scoring the third
goal was gone. Now it was just a matter for us to try to grind the
clock down.
"Had they tied with maybe three minutes to go in the period, I think
it would have been a little easier. It was a pretty down locker room.
I thought the object at that point as coaches was to pick the kids
up. You didn't want them to go out there deflated. We certainly
didn't sit back and hope to win. I thought our kids put their best
foot forward in overtime."
On the game-winner, Dingle picked up a loose puck in the crease that
bounced off the back of Bryce Anderson after Pelley fired from the
left circle and with Brown drawn left to defend against Pelley
popped it into the empty right side of the FSU net at 4:40, ending
Ferris State's season and extending OSU's.
Dave Caruso made 20 saves in his 24th win of the season, but the
goaltending story of the weekend was the play of Bulldog senior Mike
Brown, who stopped 30 in his final collegiate game and 106 in the
three-game set.
FSU went 2-for-7 on the power play and Legue's goal came three seconds
after a man-advantage expired. OSU was 1-for-6 on the PP tonight.
Ferris State ends the 2004-05 season with a 13-22-4 record.
Ohio State (26-9-4) will enter the Super Six tournament as the No. 2
seed, playing the highest remaining seed after Thursday's contests.
"We've got a job to do," said Markell. "We've got a championship
we've got to win. We are capable of winning. We taught ourselves a
good lesson here. We're going to enjoy the moment, take what we can
from out of this series."
Return to O-Zone
Columns and Features
Return to
O-Zone Front Page