Ohio State @ New Hampshire 11/30 - 12/1

[osualum86]

Ohio State is reeling right now, no question about it. They have gone 0-7-1 in their last eight games. This team has shown it is better than that with road wins at Mercyhurst and North Dakota. Ohio State does have a weeknight game 11/26 vs Robert Morris at home. I don't know much about what sort of team UNH has, other than their 6-7-2 record. Should be an interesting series for our team. UNH fans, tell us about your team or what we can expect this weekend. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

 

[DC78-82]

Re: Ohio State @ New Hampshire 11/30 - 12/1

Guts, Grit, and Determination
The 'Cats may be 0 - 3 in their last three outings, but that record in no way tells the story of what this team has accomplished, or what they are capable of.

They have skated since October 16 with, at most, 14 skaters. Since coming from behind to beat Providence over two weeks ago, they have traveled to UVM, Princeton, and Qunnipiac with a grand total of thirteen skaters. Three lines and 4 defensemen.

They had a lead on the current USCHO #5 through almost two periods of play, and even then, the game was tied on a questionable non call. It was deep into the third period before Qunny was able to pot the GWG. Our rookie netminder appeared in just her second game ever in college to finish the game with a .931 save %.

Yesterday, on the Whitt's large surface, our machine of 13 skated against a full BU (#9 currently) Down by 1 going into the second period, they killed off penalty after penalty - NOT ALLOWING A SINGLE SHOT while playing 2 down (5 on 3) for over a minute. Not only that, there was a bit of a backup in the penalty box, and UNH had just 10 skaters available for part of that time.

BU-2 Louise Warren (2-Interference) UNH 0x2 7:44
BU-3 Sarah Lefort (2-Checking) 8:24
UNH-1 Cassandra Vilgrain (2-CTH HIGH-STICKING ATW) 8:24
UNH-2 Sara Carlson (2-Delay of Game) BU 0x1 8:45
UNH-3 Nicole Gifford (2-Cross-Checking) BU 0x2 9:45
UNH-4 Arielle O'Neill (2-Tripping) BU 0x3 10:33
BU-4 Sarah Lefort (2-Elbowing) UNH 1x3 14:45
UNH 1 - 1 6x5 PP Hannah Armstrong (3) (Jess Ryan, Nicole Gifford) 15:28
UNH: 27,21,16,19,20,G2 BU: 24,15,13,28,G1
UNH-5 Megan Armstrong (2-Holding) BU 0x4 15:41

Not only did they kill all that, but came right out on their own PP and tied the game! UNH held BU to 9 shots in each period, and outshot them in both the first and third. That effort will win a lot of hockey games, and even thought they fell one short in that game, and against the other top 10 team they have played in the last week, this team has something special.

The players might not see what we do, because they are there to win, but they have improved tremendously both individually and collectively. Their puck management, puck support, and drive to the net are leaps and bounds above the past few years.

I hope they enjoy the Thanksgiving celebration knowing that they are giving us, as fans and former Wildcats, something to be proud of, and thankful for. Onward, Wildcats - you are on the right path. GO BLUE!

As I said on our thread, this team is shorthanded, but really coming into their own. How we fare against an unknown? Not sure, but I am fairly confident that we will have at least one of our previously injured players back for this series, if not two. I am looking forward to seeing how the team incorporates the added manpower after playing so shorthanded for more than a month.

Any OSU folks making the trip?

 

[osualum86]

Re: Ohio State @ New Hampshire 11/30 - 12/1

As I said on our thread, this team is shorthanded, but really coming into their own. How we fare against an unknown? Not sure, but I am fairly confident that we will have at least one of our previously injured players back for this series, if not two. I am looking forward to seeing how the team incorporates the added manpower after playing so shorthanded for more than a month.

Any OSU folks making the trip?

Not sure who is making the trip, but it sounds like your team is headed in the right direction. It remains to be seen what type of season we are going to have. We got off to a decent start. We actually lost our exhibition game against the Toronto Aeros, but when the regular season rolled around, we beat Mercyhurst on the road in our first game, then came home to face St. Cloud State. We got a win and a tie in that series. We then went back on the road and split with #5-ranked North Dakota. Not bad, but after that, things seemed to unravel. We got swept at 2nd-ranked Wisconsin, lost and tied Bemidji at home (you've probably heard about the brawl at the end of the first game by now ... video went viral), were swept at home by Minnesota-Duluth, then last weekend, we were swept at Minnesota State. Tonight we lost at home to 10th-ranked Robert Morris 2-1, so we are now 0-8-1 in our last nine games. We are having issues scoring goals. Coach has tried different line combinations and switched goalies. Nothing seems to be working right now on offense. The effort is there, but for whatever reason, we just do not appear to be on the same page. Something happened tonight, though. I was told there was a players-only meeting after the game, so we will see what happens. Hopefully you will see a desperate, backed-into-a-corner team in New Hampshire this weekend. Time will tell. We have the talent and I believe the effort is there, we just need to get on the same page and I believe things will start turning around. Good luck to both teams and hopefully both games will be injury-free.

 

[Puckdrop14]

Re: Ohio State @ New Hampshire 11/30 - 12/1

Let's hope that the new recruits include a couple of goal scorers The team will bounce back but time is not necessarily on their side.

 

[osualum86]

Re: Ohio State @ New Hampshire 11/30 - 12/1

Let's hope that the new recruits include a couple of goal scorers The team will bounce back but time is not necessarily on their side.

I was thinking that, too, Puckdrop! It's telling that our leading scorers so far this season are our twin defensemen (Kari & Sara Schmitt). I know it's going to sound stale and cliche-ish, but we really need our goalscorers to start scoring goals. I tend to agree with you that time may not be on our side regarding bouncing back. We are now setting in 6th place in the league (8 pts) and we are a full six points behind 5th place Bemidji (14 pts). If we have aspirations of climbing into the 4th spot and getting home ice in the first round of the playoffs, we are 10 pts behind Minnesota-Duluth (18 pts). Gonna be a tough uphill climb.

 

[osualum86]

Re: Ohio State @ New Hampshire 11/30 - 12/1

The Buckeyes take game one earlier today by a final score of 3-2. Goals were scored by Melani Moylan, Julia McKinnon, and Kendall Curtis. I don't know much more than that, because I haven't read the recap yet. Game two is tomorrow. Let's go for the sweep Buckeyes!

 

[Scott]

Re: Ohio State @ New Hampshire 11/30 - 12/1

The Buckeyes take game one earlier today by a final score of 3-2. Goals were scored by Melani Moylan, Julia McKinnon, and Kendall Curtis. I don't know much more than that, because I haven't read the recap yet. Game two is tomorrow. Let's go for the sweep Buckeyes!

Congrats on the sweep today! Buckeyes looked much better than their record would indicate.

 

[osualum86]

Re: Ohio State @ New Hampshire 11/30 - 12/1

Congrats on the sweep today! Buckeyes looked much better than their record would indicate.

Thanks, Scott. It's been a rough month or so for us. I certainly agree with you that we are better than our record. We knocked off Mercyhurst and North Dakota on the road earlier this season before we started struggling. Hopefully this will get us going. Good luck to UNH this season! In today's 2-0 win, goals were scored by Danielle Gagne and Claudia Kepler. Lisa Steffes got the shutout in net.