Written by: Zachary Worstell (zdw001@marietta.edu)
Bobcat hockey has made its long-awaited return home to Bird Arena. While Ohio University had been playing since September, maintenance issues forced the Bobcat’s home arena to be closed for repairs. This forced the team to cancel or relocate all of their home games until January. However, the Bobcats have had success on the road amassing an impressive 10-2 record thus far this season.
In their first home stretch of the season, OU hosted the University of Pittsburgh Panthers on January 10th. This night saw the Panthers play spoil to the Bobcats making their first home stand a loss defeating the Bobcats 5-3. However, the following day in the second match of the series, the Bobcats managed to split the series with a 3-1 win over PITT.
Their second home series matchup came the next week on January 17th as they faced off against the West Virginia Mountaineers. In the first game Ohio University alum Leo Welsh returned to sing the national anthem for the team. The Bobcats came out to an early lead scoring two goals in the first period from 20 shots. The second period saw a slower pace with a lone goal scored by Bobcat Nolan Abraham to increase the lead to 3-0. OU continued to control the puck in the third period finding the net three more times. However, West Virginia was able to avoid a shut out by getting the puck passed the goalie with 25 seconds left in the game.
The second game hosted a sold-out crowd as the Bobcats looked to maintain their momentum from the previous night. The Cats controlled the puck throughout the first period spending the majority of the first in the offensive zone. This resulted in a 4-0 lead to put the Mountaineers behind. The scoring would not stop at the first, as Ohio added three more goals, including a shorthanded goal in the second to increase their led to 7-0. Unfortunately, the Mountaineers were not able to avoid a shutout this time. In the third period the Bobcats added two more goals to record their most dominant win of the season at 9-0.
Ohio University’s next game is at home next week against Stony Brook on Friday at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday at 2:00 p.m. The cats will be playing at home on Fridays and Saturdays until February 21st and 22nd when they travel to face Liberty University in the final series of the regular season.
