It was about as perfect a first half as you could hope for. Ohio State executed flawlessly on offense, absolutely strangled the High Point offense in the defensive end, and had the upper hand in faceoffs. Add in 2 Man Up goals to break the game open and Ohio State was cooking with gas.
The second half was more of a slog, though that was mostly a result of the 4th quarter. Ohio State led 12-2 by the end of the third quarter, and it was time to let the backups have some run. High Point responded with 3 goals, making the score 12-5 before Jack Bichelmeyer managed to get the Buckeyes to luck 13 with just seconds remaining in the game.
Not quite as dramatic an offensive performance as I envisioned, but still an impressive one. Ohio State has quite clearly throttled the offense back a little from the opening games. A return to Coach Myers' preferred 30 to 36 shot offense was probably to be expected. By the same token, Ohio State has dramatically increased its efficiency. The Buckeyes scored 13 goals on just 32 shots. Racking up 24 of those shots on goal once again got Ohio State almost even with their opponent's total shots.
Most interestingly, Alex Marinier was held almost completely in check by High Point. The Panthers admittedly emphasize stopping assisted shots, but the Buckeyes still had a 50% assist rate on the day. The offense ran through other channels and it was incredibly effective. That's going to worry a lot of Big Ten teams.
Defensively, the Buckeyes were good all day, exceptional in the 1st three quarters. Fyock ended with 9 saves and a .643 save percentage. He allowed all 5 goals, but still.
Additionally, the Buckeyes caused 9 turnovers, forced an outrageous number of shot clock violations, and basically turned a good High Point offense into a hapless one. For nearly every unit, it was a really good day.
The faceoff unit remains an enigma, however. Jack Oldman was 6-11, while Matt Mayfield went a paltry 4-10. Every time one player seems to pull ahead, the other reels him back in. If this holds through the gauntlet of the rest of the schedule, Ohio State is in GREAT position.
IF the Buckeyes can't figure out what to do against real teams, this could be a disastrous year at the end. Barring Justin Inacio or Jake Winters magically having an extra year, the position just is what it is. Not much else to say.
Overall, it was a good win. The Buckeyes didn't hit 18 goals, but they definitely could have if they wanted to. That's not really Myers' deal, which is fine. Russell Melendez was back and played well. The middies are doing well. It's really coming together. Just in time, too.
Next week, Georgetown. In DC. Hold on to your butts.
Go Buckeyes!
