The Ohio State men’s hockey team’s regular season ended with a shootout loss on Thursday and a 3-1 loss Friday to Ferris State — not how the Buckeyes wanted to wrap it up.
OSU men’s hockey coach Mark Osiecki showed that with his discouraged look in Friday’s postgame press conference.
Of their 14 games following a sweep of then-No. 7 Miami (Ohio) on Jan. 7–8, the Buckeyes (15-16-4, 10-14-4-2 CCHA) lost 10.
“It’s a little frustrating knowing that we had a chance, had an opportunity and we didn’t make the best of it,” senior defenseman Chris Reed said.
The chance Reed is referring to is the Buckeyes’ ability to get a first-round bye if they were to win both games against Ferris State.
The Buckeyes could have moved up all the way into the fourth seed for the Central Collegiate Hockey Association Tournament.
But that didn’t happen.
Osiecki said he was unhappy with the way the offense performed.
“We just didn’t generate enough offense,” he said. “We get offense from three players; we need to generate more from other players.”
Scoring chances in Friday’s game became harder when the Buckeyes lost two defensemen who play significant minutes.
Sophomore defenseman Devon Krogh was disqualified for a hitting-from-behind penalty, and freshman defenseman Curtis Gedig had to leave the game with a leg injury.
But junior defenseman and captain Sean Duddy made no excuses, saying, “We just didn’t do a good enough job of putting ourselves in a position to create chances.”
OSU will be the ninth seed in the CCHA Tournament and face Lake Superior State in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., this weekend.
Look for the CCHA Tournament preview in Thursday’s edition of The Lantern.
