Ohio sweeps visiting Presidents
By William Strome, Staff Writer
February 7, 2008 | 1:51 a.m.
The Bobcats busted out the brooms this past weekend inside Bird Arena with a sweep of the No. 18 Washington and Jefferson Presidents, snapping a three-game loosing streak.
The Bobcats (10-8 CSCHL, 20-13) pummeled the Presidents Friday night, 8-0, and Saturday, 4-1, for their first sweep since visiting St. Louis on Dec. 8 and 9. The Bobcats outscored the host 15-0 in their last sweep.
"Friday was huge," forward Jim Fuhs said. "We haven't been scoring goals [on Fridays], so coach came out and challenged us. Even though we lost last weekend, we played well on Saturday and realized that we knew we could finish a full weekend."
Ohio has had trouble lately putting together an entire weekend of consistent hockey. Prior to hosting the Presidents (20-12), over the past three series the Bobcats averaged 0.67 goals per game on Fridays.
"[We] lost confidence for a while, but over the last three games we've only allowed two goals," coach Dan Morris said. "After Saturday the guys got that confidence back. They hadn't been producing on Fridays, and I was sure to let them know that."
This weekend the Bobcat offense was relentless, shelling the President goalies with 102 total shots, 59 on Saturday.
Friday's route began halfway through the first period when Dave Fitzgerald scored his 11th power-play goal of the season and 18th of the year. With 13:56 remaining in the second period, Mike Peota put the Bobcats up by two and 45 seconds later, Billy Hemann gave Ohio a three-goal lead. They would finish the period up 4-0 following a Brett Molnar score that was assisted by JJ Plutt and Hemann. Plutt dished out three assists on the night to three different players.
"JJ is really tearing it up. We were looking for a solid third line, and Heeman, Molnar and JJ have done it," Morris said.
The Bobcats’ offense tacked on four more in the third to finish off the Presidents and lift goalie Chris Carlson to his first shutout of the season. Carlson made 13 stops on Friday and 29 on the weekend. His nemesis across the rink saw over three times as many shots. The Presidents’ John Mioduszewski made 55 saves on 59 shots Saturday.
“We had more scoring chances on Saturday, but their goalie made some big-time saves," Morris said. “That was the difference between Friday and Saturday.”
Another difference on Saturday was Ohio’s offense, which scored within the first two minutes of each period including twice in the first 20 seconds. Bryan Brown scored his first career Ohio goal on his first shift 19 seconds into the first period. He was assisted by Max Malone and Fuhs. Like Plutt the night before, Fuhs finished off the game with three assists and one goal. It was Brown who would later hook up Fuhs for the next Bobcat score, 10 seconds into the second period.
“We played two good games except for about seven or eight minutes on Saturday,” Fuhs said.
The short lapse allowed the Presidents to register their only tally of the weekend, as center Eric Sweeney was the lone President to find the back of the net.
“One guy made a mistake on a penalty kill, and he knew it,” Morris said.
The Bobcats’ next series is at home against No. 11 and conference rival Kent State (8-8, 21-11) on Feb. 8 and 9 at 7:30 p.m. Ohio split a series in early October with the Golden Flashes, who are riding a four-game win streak.
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