Men's Hockey
Buckeyes Take Opener - Again - Vs. Northern Michigan
By Craig Merz

MARQUETTE, Mich. – Now comes the hard part for the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Not that a 4-3 win over Northern Michigan on Friday in the first game of the best-of-three CCHA series was easy but the 11th- seeded Buckeyes had their way with the sixth seed for most of the game until allowing two late goals to set up the potential clincher Saturday in the Berry Events Center.

The late flurry and a near-goal that would have tied score with about a minute left showed the Wildcats (15-18-4) are not going to go away quietly. Especially as they try to replicate last season’s postseason series in Columbus when they lost the opener 6-2 before winning 3-2 in overtime and 3-2 in the decisive game.

“We need to learn to close the door a little bit better but it’s a playoff win. We’ve got to be ready to come out (Saturday),” said senior forward Tommy Goebel, one of the Buckeyes’ stars with a goal and two assists. “Obviously, they beat us last year after we beat them in the first game. We’re going to come out harder than we did today. The freshmen are excited. They played hard. I expect us to be a better team tomorrow than we were today.”

He and freshman Patrick Schafer scored in the first period to stake OSU (12-23-4) to a 2-1 lead. Senior Jason DeSantis made it 3-1 off a feed from Goebel and the pair had helpers on the power play goal by freshman Todd Rudasill at 13:54 of the second for 4-1 advantage.

The Wildcats got a score from Matt Siddall at 16:07 of the third and T.J. Miller scored their third goal at 18:04 while the teams were each down a skater and Northern had pulled goalie Brian Stewart for an extra attacker.

However, sophomore Joseph Palmer was stellar with 27 saves – 10 in the third – and senior captain Matt McIlvane made a kick save with Palmer screened on a blast from the left point by Nick Sirota to prevent the tying goal at the end.

“We did a good job hanging on. Palmer played great. They made a push. You have to give them credit,” Schafer said. “We had the same game plan we always do. Older guys like McIlvane and (Tom) Fritsche started us off. Goebel got that first goal and settled us down a little bit. Hopefully, we can come back with the same energy.”

The Kids Are All Right

OSU coach John Markell was a little bit concerned how his 10 freshmen would react to their first playoff game as well as the Olympic-size ice (200 feet by 100 feet) that is 15 feet wider than the Buckeyes are used to.

He shouldn’t have been.

“The first three shifts they were all over us but we hung with it. Obviously, when we went up 4-1, we could have got that fifth goal at the end of the second but they came back on us late but we played a good game. Joe made some good saves, especially in the second period,” he said. “Our guys put a heck of an effort in. It’s a good lesson that it’s never over until it’s over. They came close to scoring at the end. We got it done. We go the W. We had some young kids on the ice and they could feel the push coming. At the start of the third I thought we might get another one. I was very impressed (with the freshmen).”

It was Goebel, though, who got the scoring started on the Buckeyes’ second shot of the game nearly seven minutes in with his team-best 21st. He skated down the left side and put a backhander on net from the goal line. The innocent shot bounced off Stewart into the net.

The goal was a relief to the Buckeyes after having so much difficult against the sophomore Stewart the past two seasons. He came off the bench in the first game of last season’s series and was the difference in the Wildcats’ comeback. Then, on Feb. 15 he stopped 46 shots to beat the Buckeyes 2-0 in Columbus and the next night OSU needed Goebel’s score with less than a second left to beat Northern 3-2.

“That was a fluky goal,” he said of his goal Friday to put OSU up 1-0. “It definitely helps. He’s human. That helped us, maybe got him down a bit. We capitalized on some good chances after that.”

Although Jared Brown got the equalizer at 15:39 with a tip-in while a man-up, the Buckeyes responded three minutes later when Schafer put in a rebound of a Kyle Reed shot after a set-up by Peter Boyd. The freshmen trio showed no jitters in their first postseason action.

“It was a hard play by our line,” Schafer said. “I gave it to Boyder. He went hard wide and threw it toward the net and Kyle Reed got a shot and I came off with the rebound and just pulled it and stuffed it five-hole. I had trouble scoring this year. I’ve had a couple lately so hopefully it will keep coming in the playoffs.”

Seniors To Forefront And Backhand

OSU had just five shots in the first and 13 through two periods but pushed the lead to three. First, Goebel had a nifty center to DeSantis, who cut in from the right point and put a backhander over Stewart at 10:47.

“That’s your seniors leading by example,” Markell said. “They’re going to need to get it done. They’re going to have to lead the way. They’ve been there before and know how important it is that they chip in and be part of it.”

“That was a great play by Jay,” Goebel said. “He’s a smart offensive defensive. He came in and made a great play and buried it.”

DeSantis said, “We work on that stuff in practice. I found the seam in the slot. He’s a big goalie. I knew he was going down so I put it on the backhand and put it upstairs. It’s a big ice sheet. We used our speed and skill to our advantage.”

Rudasill’s fourth score was the result of parking in front of the net and waiting for a rebound which he deftly placed behind Stewart. In the last five seconds of the period, Reed had a breakaway but shot wide from the low slot. Fortunately for the Buckeyes, that did not come back to bite them although Northern made the game interesting with its late rush.

Now, comes a chance to finish off the Wildcats, just like last season

“We know what happened last year in the series,” DeSantis said. “We’ve got to bank this game and worry about (Saturday). We know they’re going to come out gunning for us.”

Markell Back For More

Markell met with director of athletics Gene Smith this week and several sources said the coach has been assured he and his staff will be back next season.

The Buckeyes have had three straight losing seasons after making the NCAA Tournament the previous three years.

Working in Markell’s favor is an improving young team loaded with freshmen that has gone 10-13-3 after a 2-10-1 start and a recruiting class of seven for next season that is ranked second in the nation behind Minnesota’s.

Return to the-Ozone Columns and Features

Return to the-OZone Front Page