Last night Ohio State gave an impressive effort but fell short against No. 6 Nebraska-Omaha. Tonight’s game brought more of the same. The scrappy Buckeyes took the hits that the Mavericks dished out, fought back, and almost managed to come up with a knock out punch.
| scoring by period | 1 | 2 | 3 | final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ohio State | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| No. 6 Nebraska-Omaha | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
The Buckeyes found themselves behind the eight ball right off the bat. Mavericks leading goal scorer Austin Ortega struck just 30 seconds into the game. The goal was the junior’s eleventh of the season.
OSU regrouped and refocused immediately. Like last night the team displayed tremendous push back. Eventually they were rewarded with the equalizer. Mike Gillespie knotted the score for the Scarlet and Gray. The goal was the freshman’s first as a Buckeye.
Omaha regained the lead less than a minute later. An overzealous hit put the Bucks on a major penalty kill and sent defenseman Tommy Parran to the showers early. It took Jake Guentzel mere seconds to pot a second tally for the Mavs.
That was just the start of an extended session of special teams action. The officials doled out four fouls over the course of the next six minutes. The Bucks manned up, killed off their share of the penalties, and resumed pressure on Evan Weninger. The UNO goalie was up to the task, though, and the Mavericks went to the break with a one goal lead.
| pd | time | buckeye goal scorers (assists) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4:57 | Mike Gillespie (Matt Weis, Josh Healey) |
| 2 | 17:28 | Sasha Larocque (Christian Lampasso, Dakota Joshua) |
| 3 | 12:02 | Anthony Greco (Dave Gust, Kevin Miller) |
| 3 | 15:15 | Nick Schilkey (Mason Jobst, Drew Brevig) |
In the second period the fast pace and excessive time spent shorthanded seemed to catch up with Ohio State. Omaha reeled off three more goals. Ortega converted a power play opportunity for his NCAA leading twelfth tally of the season. David Pope and Fredrik Olofsson lit the lamp as well.
With its skaters gassed and floundering a team hopes for a stellar effort in net to keep it in the game. It’s not the time for your goaltender to have an off night, but that was the situation in which the Buckeyes found themselves. Matt Tomkins has played some fantastic hockey this season. However he did not have his A game tonight and was relieved by Christian Frey following the Mavs’ fifth goal.
At this point Ohio State could have accepted its fate. Instead the team’s resiliency took center stage once again. Late in the middle frame another Buckeye freshman, Sasha Larocque, netted his first collegiate goal, cutting UNO’s lead to 5-2. This set the stage for a wild third period.
Over the final twenty minutes of the game the Bucks unleashed a furious assault on Nebraska-Omaha. Ohio State outshot the Mavericks 24-8 in the third period. Top snipers Nick Schilkey and Anthony Greco drove the comeback effort, notching the Buckeyes’ third and fourth goals.
Now within a single score of the No. 6 team in the nation, Steve Rohlik called Frey to the bench for the extra attacker…and UNO chucked a puck into the empty net. Despite falling short tonight Ohio State impressed with its ability to make adjustments, roll with the punches, and bounce back. These are traits that will serve the team well as they battle within the Big Ten. The conference fight begins next week as the Buckeyes head to Minnesota to take on the Golden Gophers.
