Senior forward Patrick Guzzo (71) locates the puck while surrounded by a sea of black jerseys. The Ohio State men’s hockey team defeated Princeton 6-3 at Value City Arena Friday. Credit: Courtesy of Ohio State Athletics
The Ohio State men’s ice hockey team rebounded over the weekend with two statement victories over the Princeton Tigers.
Head coach Steve Rohlik said going into the series there were many focus points the team needed to improve upon to turn the season around after a rough start.
“You got to score more than one goal or two goals most nights to win a hockey game, and it starts to put a lot of pressure on special teams,” Rohlik said. “We’ll score goals if we continue to play the right way.”
In the end, Rohlik got what he wanted in a 6-3 victory for the Buckeyes (5-5-3, 0-5-1 Big Ten) Friday night over the Tigers (3-4-1, 3-2-1-1 Ivy League). The scoring started for Ohio State when fifth-year defenseman and captain Scooter Brickey scored a laser goal, his fifth in the first period of the season.
Wisconsin transfer and junior Caden Brown then made a sharp pass to sophomore forward Stephen Halliday for a power-play goal.
Princeton quickly responded with two goals of its own, but junior defenseman Brent Johnson then added to the high-scoring second with a highlight reel-like goal.
Poor Ohio State puck movement and defense led the Tigers to tie the game at three apiece.
Halliday scored his second goal just 50 seconds into the third period. After being in a scoring slump the past few games, Halliday said he credited his coach for getting him back on the scoring sheet.
“I took the off week to just kind of like reset a bit like everyone did, but I think just like coach said, just in practice he preaches scoring, and practice will lead to scoring in the game, so I think that’s what we’ve all done and worked out for us tonight,” Halliday said.
Rohlik’s squad finished with two open net goals from forwards Cam Thiesing and Dalton Messina, claiming a 6-3 victory.
On Saturday night three Buckeyes scored first-period goals, thanks to forwards Patrick Guzzo, Thiesing and Brown.
A second-period goal by Princeton and a response by Buckeye sophomore Davis Burnside made the score 4-1. However, the Tigers slowly chipped away at the lead, making it 4-3 in the third period.
Junior goalie Logan Terness and the Buckeye defense eventually got the best of them, winning the match 4-3.
Going into the week, Rohlik preached the importance of maintaining a steady mindset and said he was pleased with his team’s preparation.
“Mindset is how you show up every day, and mindset is how you go about your business and structure,” Rohlik said. “And, you know, if you take care of those things on and off the ice, you’re going to be in a better spot.”
Ohio State travels to Madison, Wisconsin, Friday to face the No. 6 Wisconsin Badgers.
