 Media Credit: Jill Bonnough Senior forward Rod Pelley possesses the puck during the Buckeyes´ exhibition game against Western Ontario Oct. 7.
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Anyone expecting the No. 2 Ohio State hockey team to be satisfied with last weekend's road split against then-No. 6 Colorado College to start the season would be sorely mistaken.
"No," coach John Markell said when asked if he was satisfied with the result. "I think we were in a position to win the game (Saturday)."
That night, the Buckeyes could not solve Colorado College goaltender Matt Zaba. The junior was sterling, notching 34 saves in blanking the Buckeyes 1-0, with the only goal coming from last year's Hober Baker Award winner, Marty Sertich. If that 1-0 score sounds familiar to Buckeye fans, it should: OSU has lost a playoff game in each of the past three years 1-0, with two of those losses coming in the first round of the NCAA tournament in 2003 and 2004.
"It really felt like an NCAA game, a tournament game, and the end result - it was a tournament game for us because we lost by 1-0," Markell said.
The loss came a night after OSU defeated the Tigers 4-2 in the season opener. The teams were tied going to the third period, when senior forward Rod Pelley put the Buckeyes up for good at the 4:48 mark. Sophomore forward Kyle Hood finished the Tigers off with a power-play goal later in the period. Junior defenseman Tyson Strachan and sophomore forward Matt McIlvane scored earlier for the Buckeyes.
Pelley said the difference in the two nights might have just boiled down to the traffic in front of Zaba.
"Friday we were getting some traffic in front of the net, generating more chances, and more importantly, we buried our chances," he said. "Saturday we got off a lot of shots again, but we didn't get as much traffic."
With nearly all of the teams ahead of OSU in the polls losing Friday night, the Buckeyes took the ice knowing that with a win, they would probably be the No. 1 in the country. Instead, now Michigan (4-0) occupies the top spot, although the Buckeyes are ranked as high as they have ever been.
"It crossed my mind (that we were playing for No. 1)," senior captain Nate Guenin said. "But you don't want to be playing for No. 1 right now in October. That's not your goal. We're pretty pleased with where we are at."
Spring Break
