Men's Hockey
Buckeyes Continue On Playoff Trail at CCHA Super Six - Take on MSU in Semifinal at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit
By Paula C. Weston
With last weekend's too-close-for-comfort series behind them, the
Buckeyes are in Detroit for the Central Collegiate Hockey Association
Super Six tournament as the No. 2 seed, which gave them a bye Thursday
and puts them in the late game tonight.
Ohio State (26-9-4) edged No. 11 seed Ferris State (13-22-4) in three games in the first-round, best-of-three CCHA playoff series in
Columbus, and the youth of the team was apparent in both subtle and
tangible ways.
"It was enormous for us to get these kids through this experience,"
said head coach John Markell. "That first playoff series as young
collegians is really, really tough, especially when we only had two
seniors in the lineup."
After Friday's 4-2 win, Markell said that there were "moments out
there" when the Buckeyes had "lapses," and added prophetically, as
it turned out that Ohio State needed to "make some adjustments" to
what Ferris State was doing and continue playing our execution, our
game plan."
"That's where we keep hurting ourselves. We had a lot of young kids
out there who were nervous, but I think we did well enough to win that
hockey game."
The nerves translated into a 1-0 shutout loss Saturday, after which
Markell said he expected the young Buckeyes, all freshmen and
sophomores except for a handful of juniors, and seniors JB Bittner and
Lee Spector to "respond" Sunday. "It comes down to one game."
In that game, the Buckeyes overcame their inexperience and played like
seasoned veterans. Sophomore Matt Beaudoin netted two goals in the
5-4 overtime win, and freshmen accounted for the other three,
including Jason DeSantis's tying goal with less than a minute left in
regulation, and John Dingle's game-winner at 4:40 in OT.
Markell said that the play of the freshmen was just what the coaching
staff expected in the win.
"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 form here on in."
In Detroit, OSU will play the highest remaining seed from Thursday's quarterfinal action, No. 5 seed Michigan State. The Spartans shut out
No. 4 seed Nebraska-Omaha 5-0, and No. 3 seed Northern Michigan fell
to No. 6 Alaska-Fairbanks, 6-3.
The UAF Nanooks will face No. 1 seed Michigan in Friday's early contest.
This is the first time that the Buckeyes have had the bye for the CCHA
quarterfinals, but Markell isn't underestimating his Friday opponent
simply because of their lower seed; not only did OSU lose one game to
that No. 11 seed last weekend, but the Buckeyes were the ones to play
through three games all the way to a post-season CCHA tournament title
last year, becoming just the second team in NCAA history to play three
games en route to winning a league title.
And the Spartans and Buckeyes split a pair of games in East Lansing in
late February.
"These teams come to play," said Markell, "and it's going to be tough
out there."
Five different Spartans found the net in MSU's 5-0 win over UNO, but
the engine that drives the Michigan State offense is comprised of
three key play makers, two of whom did not score goals.
Senior Jim Slater and sophomore Drew Miller each had three assists on
the night, and combined with junior Colton Fretter make up the MSU"ER" unit, each player having a last name that ends with the letters ER, and while not playing as a line together, the trio does make up one
lethal power-play unit, as the Mavericks discovered Thursday.
The three were responsible for the first Spartan goal at 3:28, on
MSU's first power-play of the night, with Fretter scoring and the
other two assisting, and Slater and Miller combined again to help on
Jim McKenzie's goal to make it 2-0 at the end of the first period.
All told, Fretter, Miller, and Slater are responsible for scoring 27
of MSU's 48 power-play goals on the season.
The three are not the only offensive threats MSU offers. Ash Goldie
(10-10-20), Jim McKenzie (10-7-17), and Bryan Lerg (10-4-14) have
reached the 10-goal plateau.
Spartan sophomore goaltender Dominic Vicari, who registered his fifth
shutout of the season and 12th of his career in the quarterfinal game
against UNO, has a 2.24 goals-against average and .925 save
percentage.
Michigan State's power play (.192) is sixth in the conference while
Ohio State's (.222) is second. The Spartan penalty kill (.818) is
seventh; OSU's is first (.869).
After a roller-coaster season that saw the Spartans battling for home
ice in the first round of the CCHA playoffs, MSU carries a six-game
win streak into tonight's semifinal match. A turning point late in
the season for Michigan State seems to have been the dismissal of
sophomore defenseman A.J. Thelen, last year's CCHA Best Offensive
Defenseman, on March 6.
Since Spartan head coach Rick Comley dismissed Thelen, a former
first-round draft pick of the NHL's Minnesota Wild, left the team for
not meeting "the expectations for a student-athlete in the ice hockey
program at MSU," Michigan State has rolled. Thelen's replacement in
the lineup, freshman defenseman Daniel Vukovic, netted his first
collegiate goal in MSU's 5-0 win over UNO.
In this up-and-down campaign, the Spartans have sought the right
balance in the locker room and on the ice.
"We've had to find
leaders, find people who are going to get it done," said Comley.
"Instead of automatically passing the torch, we've had to find people
to carry the torch and I think that's what we see evolving right now."
The Spartans and Buckeyes face off at 8:05 p.m. tonight in Detroit's
Joe Louis Arena. The games can be heard on WOSU 820 AM and via the
Internet at wosu.org.
The winner of that match will advance to the CCHA Championship game
Saturday, and will play the victor in the early semifinal contest
between Alaska-Fairbanks and regular-season champion Michigan.
FSN Ohio will carry the championship game live at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
Notes
This is the fourth consecutive year that OSU has advanced to the Super
Six, and the Buckeyes are the defending Mason Cup champions, having
captured that title with a 4-2 win over Michigan last year. It was
OSU's second CCHA post-season championship, and its first since 1972.
This is the sixth time in program history that the Buckeyes enter the
CCHA championship tournament as the No. 2 seed, the first time since
1984.
Matt Beaudoin is the go-to guy for the Buckeyes in the playoffs. In
two years, the sophomore has amassed seven goals and four assists in
nine post-season games. Junior Rod Pelley has three goals and seven
assists in 15 games, while junior goaltender Dave Caruso has a 5-2-0
record all-time in post-season, with a 1.95 goals-against average in
those seven games.
OSU is 37-51-4 all-time in post-season action, and is 10-9 at Joe
Louis Arena for CCHA tourney play.
Last Sunday's 5-4 overtime win against Ferris State was just the
second time this season that the Buckeyes came from behind after two
periods to win a game.
Freshman Tom Fritsche (8-32—40) and junior Pelley (22-18-40) lead the
team with 40 points each. This marks the first season that a Buckeye
has reached the 40-point mark since 2002-03, when R.J. Umberger had 53 Points. Fritsche and Pelley have just the second and third 40-point
seasons in the past six years for Ohio State.
When scoring at least four goals, the Buckeyes are undefeated this
season (16-0-1).
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