Ohio State vs Lindenwood 9/28 - 9/29

[osualum86]

What is everyone's thoughts on this matchup? I have to be honest, I have not read anything on Lindenwood, so I am not sure what to expect. In regard to our team, I think we will be solid on D and goaltending. What I will be most interested in watching is our offense, namely, where will the scoring come from? We obviously don't have a Natalie Spooner on this year's team who can take over a game. I think, or at least what I hope to see this season, is a 'scoring by committee' attack where everyone gets involved and teams cannot key on a single player or a couple players. Regardless, I cannot wait to get to the rink tomorrow for opening night of OSU Womens Hockey!

Ok, part two, got on Lindenwood's website and found out they have had Womens Ice Hockey for a while and have been fairly competitive, so I expect them to come in and be competitive this weekend. Our kids will have to earn it this weekend and I am sure they will be ready. Should be an interesting couple of games. If there are any Lindenwood fans here on uscho.com, please feel free to tell us about your team and what we should expect this weekend. And as always, if you are coming to Columbus, safe travels to you!

[ARM]

Re: Ohio State vs Lindenwood 9/28 - 9/29

Last year was Lindenwood's first season of NCAA competition. Before that, they had a club hockey team, which was very successful. Some of their players are holdovers from that club team. They didn't fare to well last year versus D-I competition:
http://www.collegehockeystats.net/1112/schedules/linw

Presumably, they'll be slightly better this year. Still, it's your game to lose.

[backcheck]

Re: Ohio State vs Lindenwood 9/28 - 9/29

Lindenwood got off to a slow start recruiting as they made the jump to D1 part way into the 2011 recruiting season. They played an incredibly tough first half of their first year against teams that included Wisconsin, North Dakota and Mercyhurst, so many of their losses were a given. The last half of their campaign included lower level D1 and a number of D3 teams, so they had much greater success as they started to come together as a team.

A full year of recruiting, a year of experience for a large number of rookies and a couple of transfers will make a marked change in Lindenwood’s ability these season. Defence was a big issue, and they brought in some girls to fill some holes, and that wiill make a big differrence. I expect them to be significantly better than last year.

Despite some significant losses in scoring output from Ohio, they have very solid returning players, good speed, a pretty cohesive unit and some good recruits. A more evenly divided talent pool is tougher to defense than a couple of stars.

I give Ohio the definite edge especially on home turf. My prediction is 5-2 Ohio.

[pgb-ohio]

Re: Ohio State vs Lindenwood 9/28 - 9/29

I give Ohio the definite edge especially on home turf. My prediction is 5-2 Ohio.

Interesting to hear that Lindenwood is making a side trip to Athens to play the Bobcats in Field Hockey. Agreed, forcing the Lindenwood icers to play the Bobcats on turf will result in a decided advantage for the home team.

[ARM]

Re: Ohio State vs Lindenwood 9/28 - 9/29

Some insight into how "The Ohio State University" came to be so known.

[123kidd]

Re: Ohio State vs Lindenwood 9/28 - 9/29

"The last half of their campaign included lower level D1 and a number of D3 teams, so they had much greater success as they started to come together as a team."

I would say Lindenwood's the last 35 days of the 2011-2012 season could be considered a "success" - they went 4-3 vs DIII teams, handled Sacred Heart (equivalent of a lower level DIII team) beat a Club team 3 times and then St. Mike's (a bad DIII team). So my prediction is 7-1 OSU.

[sbkbghockey]

Re: Ohio State vs Lindenwood 9/28 - 9/29

I think this game could be closer than many expect. Lindenwood is still a big underdog but they also had a rough season last year. They rushed into NCAA a bit and the coaching staff had a short recruiting season to prepare for 2011-12. This year they've had a much longer time to prepare. Last season LU had very few home games and played many top teams on the road. The team learned a lot with the experiences of last season. Their losses to top programs like Wisconsin and NoDak were huge, but others like at Syracuse and Minnesota State-Mankato were close games. I think this series is a toss up. 5-2 win OSU in game No. 1 and a 4-3 win for the Lady Lions tomorrow.

[LG4]

I think this game could be closer than many expect. Lindenwood is still a big underdog but they also had a rough season last year. They rushed into NCAA a bit and the coaching staff had a short recruiting season to prepare for 2011-12. This year they've had a much longer time to prepare. Last season LU had very few home games and played many top teams on the road. The team learned a lot with the experiences of last season. Their losses to top programs like Wisconsin and NoDak were huge, but others like at Syracuse and Minnesota State-Mankato were close games. I think this series is a toss up. 5-2 win OSU in game No. 1 and a 4-3 win for the Lady Lions tomorrow.

Looking at the back half of last years season they played nobody of any caliber and unless they got themselves a great goalie I would think they would be hard pressed to win as many games as last year given this years schedule. Closer games hopefully and a good goalie and maybe they steal a game or two.

[sbkbghockey]

Re: Ohio State vs Lindenwood 9/28 - 9/29

Looking at the back half of last years season they played nobody of any caliber and unless they got themselves a great goalie I would think they would be hard pressed to win as many games as last year given this years schedule. Closer games hopefully and a good goalie and maybe they steal a game or two.

Lindenwood's biggest problems last year were conditioning and defense. Fairchild was a leader among shots faced (over 980), defense gave LU goalies no chance with tons of shots, odd-man rushes, second and third rebound whacks, etc... LU got some key pieces on D this season but it's still the biggest weakness. I think they'll win 7-9 games this season. Possibly a split this weekend at OSU, splits against MSU-Mankato, Syracuse equals 5 games. LU against RIT will be interesting to see, RIT was a good DIII program but LU has had a winning record against lower DIII opponents last season and when they played them during the ACHA years; that said I think RIT wins at least 3 of 4. Penn State is transitioning to NCAA, a bit more prepared than LU last season but I think LU can pick up 2-3 games against the Nittany Lions.

[osualum86]

Re: Ohio State vs Lindenwood 9/28 - 9/29

Well, tonight's game was dominated by Ohio State. Shots on goal ... 64 to 19. That's not something you see everyday. Do I think Lindenwood will be better tomorrow? Absolutely, and our kids will need to be ready for that. The thing that kept this game close deep into the third period was outstanding goaltending by the Lindenwood goaltender. Props to her. She is a freshman according to the program (sorry I do not have the program in front of me, so her name escapes me), so it would appear that the Lions will have solid goaltending for a few more seasons. On the other side, Chelsea Knapp was solid in goal, pitching the shutout. The scoring was done by two of our forwards and two defensemen as the Schmitts both scored tonight. It's nice to see scoring from our defensemen. The first goal of the game was scored by senior forward Tina Hollowell and the last goal of the game was scored by senior forward Paige Semenza. The final score was 4-0, Buckeyes take this one. I will be anxiously awaiting Pgb-Ohio's "unofficial" three stars of the game. I have a feeling the Lindenwood goalie will get one of those stars, or at least an honorable mention. I would like to get a perspective from a Lindenwood fan who was at the game. Speaking of the game, there was a decent crowd tonight, and it was really nice seeing many of the men's hockey players there supporting the women. Again, as I said earlier, I expect a different Lindenwood squad for tomorrow's game, but the Buckeyes definitely carried the play tonight. What did everyone else think?

[pgb-ohio]

Re: Ohio State vs Lindenwood 9/28 - 9/29

I will be anxiously awaiting Pgb-Ohio's "unofficial" three stars of the game.

The Unofficial Stars are now up on the WCHA thread. As you will see when you get there, posting tonight was a bit of an adventure.

I have a feeling the Lindenwood goalie will get one of those stars, or at least an honorable mention.

Good call!

[Mountain_Hockey_Dad]

Re: Ohio State vs Lindenwood 9/28 - 9/29

The name of the goalie from Lindenwood is Nicole Hensley. She played for Colorado Select. I think she will end up being one of those players that surprises a lot of people over the next few years. She is a great kid and comes from a fantastic family. And no, I'm not her dad.

[osualum86]

Re: Ohio State vs Lindenwood 9/28 - 9/29

The name of the goalie from Lindenwood is Nicole Hensley. She played for Colorado Select. I think she will end up being one of those players that surprises a lot of people over the next few years. She is a great kid and comes from a fantastic family. And no, I'm not her dad.

I was not at today's game where we scored seven goals, so I can't make a comment regarding today's game, but Miss Hensley's solid saves kept the Friday game at 2-0 for quite some time and gave her team a chance at coming back. Overall, though, from what I observed in Friday's game, our kids just looked to be faster, more athletic skaters, and that gave us a decided advantage. I love what Coach Handrahan and his staff are doing with our team. I also like the fact that we had seven different kids score this weekend. That type of 'scoring by committee' is what we will need to continue if we are going to be successful this season. And I have to congratulate freshman Julia McKinnon from Kelowna, BC on scoring her first-ever goal as a Buckeye!

[backcheck]

Re: Ohio State vs Lindenwood 9/28 - 9/29

The Buckeye's had great team speed and moved the puck really well, particularly in transition and in the neutral zone. Julie McKinnon is a great additional as she showed great hustle and made a number of very good passes. She was elated at her first goal, which was well earned given her strong play in the series.

While Lindenwood is a much improved team, the Buckeyes superior speed and conditioning showed. Nicole Hensley made some outstanding saves, particularly in game 1. Lindenwood got into penalty trouble in game 2 and the Buckeyes made them pay with several powerplay goals. A couple may not show as PP goals, but they were scored within 5 seconds of the expiry of the Lindenwood penalty.

I was watching the shot count versus that on the score clock and there were a number of bizarre jumps and changes in shot counts, including reduction of Lindenwood shots. While it may demonstrate a further sloping of the ice in the Buckeye's favor through stats, it does not help the Buckeye's goaltending stats by shading the shot count.

It was exciting to see a great turnout for the openning weekend, particularly for game 1.

[WCHFan]

Re: Ohio State vs Lindenwood 9/28 - 9/29

Agree with backcheck. Bucks looked fast. McKinnon is a nice speedy player. I don't see much difference in the lines all seemed solid. Howell, Semenza, Hokey, Kuehl, Mintu and I guess the whole team had good games. Svedin was amazing in the 2nd game. Never saw that blistering one timer shot last year. I also felt for Knapp who did see more shots in the 2nd game then were reported.

1st game Lindenwood's goalie was amazing. It coulda/shoulda been 8-10 goal game. 2nd game OSU got the early bounces as they put in 4 of 20 shots. Lindenwood started the 2nd game with many early chances and seemed like at least 10 shots in the first period. Somehow shots went from I think 7, 8 down to 4? Doesn't do favors to anyone especially a goalie's save % when this happens.