Re: the Ohio State University Post-Season Thread
Final From Saturday, March 6th
Ohio State 8
Notre Dame 2
(Buckeyes Win Best-of-Three Series 2-0)
Here's your next installment of Perani Cup Lite. Since the Buckeyes swept, this is Part 2 of 2. Part 1 appeared as the last post of the previous thread.
Three Stars of the Game: Decidedly Unofficial and Just For Fun
Honorable Mention: Matt Bartkowski, Ohio State
So much went on in Game 2, there just weren't enough stars to go around. But we've got to take notice that Bartkowski opened the scoring last night. Spending some time down low on the PP, it's looking like he has a bit of power forward in him. That's a nice complement to the hard-nosed defense we count on from Matt -- and got last night.
#3 Star: Chris Reed, Ohio State
Reed seemed to be everywhere, and produced 4 assists with his efforts. But as with D partner Bartkowski, Chris' stalwart defense was just important as the offensive contribution. ND certainly didn't roll over in this game, putting on lots of pressure. But for the most part, the Buckeye D controlled the defensive slot, which was huge.
#2 Star: Sergio Somma, Ohio State
Eight goals is an offensive explosion, and Somma was right in the thick of things with two goals and an assist. The assist was a picture perfect pass that created the final goal of the evening. We'll also let Sergio be a representative of the PK. The PK was vitally important last night. The killers yielded a 5x3 goal, but weathered the storm on 5 other penalties, including a major.
#1 Star: Hunter Bishop, Ohio State
Did I mention the killers got a shortie? While there was a lot of hockey left to be played, Bishop's patient top shelf wrister put the Irish in hole from which they could not recover. Now about that pass from Somma. Hunter steered it into the net to complete his hat trick and a four point night. Nice to see, and nice to see a celebratory hat hit Buckeye ice.
We shouldn't get too giddy. After all, this was a #
8 seed vs. a #9
. But it's always great to beat Notre Dame, and the fact it was a playoff series makes it special. These were decisive, satisfying wins.