The last time the Ohio State men’s hockey team went to Oxford, Ohio, to play Miami, they were on the wrong end of a 6-2 RedHawks victory.
This time around, the Buckeyes look to be David as they go against the hockey Goliath called Miami.
OSU will meet the RedHawks in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association quarterfinals in a best-of-three series for the right to play at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit in the CCHA semifinals.
Ohio State is coming off an impressive two-game sweep over Notre Dame last weekend where junior goaltender Dustin Carlson gave up only one goal on 84 shots over the two games.
“We all know hockey is about goaltending and Dusty is playing very well right now,” coach John Markell said.
But now OSU faces an in-state rival that has only given up four goals in its four meetings against the Buckeyes this season.
“You’re going into a difficult situation,” Markell said. “They can defend as well as they can produce offense. They are a complete team.”
Markell was pleased with his goaltending and offense against Notre Dame, but wants his team to cut down on the penalties.
“We played half of our of our last game against Notre Dame shorthanded and we don’t want to test that [against Miami],” Markell said.
Sophomore Zac Dalpe said that the Buckeyes’ familiarity with Miami will help them to not underestimate their opponents.
“We’ve played them a lot this year and last year and we know what to expect,” Dalpe said. “They’re deep and have a lot of skill and they don’t give you a lot of time. With them, you can’t really take a shift off or a period off and we’ve learned that now.”
Carlson said that they need to play with a sense of urgency with their season on the line.
“Hopefully we have that urgency right away,” Carlson said. “Not from the start of the third period, but right when the puck drops.”
Two weeks ago in Oxford the Buckeyes skated to a scoreless tie with Miami after the first period. However, the RedHawks turned up the tempo en route to a six-goal second period and never looked back. The Buckeyes need to play with the consistency on defense like they did against the Fighting Irish.
Markell says knowing how to adjust to each situation in games will be their key to success.
“Momentum is a big part of the game,” Markell said. “You need to know how to skate with it and need to know how to defend it.”
Markell also knows that Miami by no means is going to hold back physically, as they showed the last time OSU played in Oxford.
“Our guys know we are going to get hit. They’re going to be physical, they are going to try to run us out of their building” Markell said. “Hopefully, we can get that competitive level back because we are going to need it.
Dalpe said despite the circumstances he doesn’t mind going up against the favorite in a playoff situation.
“If we don’t bring our best, we could be done,” Dalpe said. “But competing is something we’re looking forward to and to be honest, I like being in the underdog role anyway.”
The Buckeyes open up the series against Miami Friday at 7:35 p.m. and play game two Saturday at 7:05 p.m. in Oxford. If necessary, game three will be at 7:05 p.m. Sunday.
