Michigan week officially begins this evening when the No. 5 Michigan Wolverines skate into Ohio State to face off against the No. 13 men’s ice hockey team. The game is a pivotal matchup for two teams battling for the league title.
“Michigan’s one of the top teams,” said senior forward Paul Caponigri. “If we can take them we can pretty much beat anyone.”
The Buckeyes are on top of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association with 12 points. The Wolverines are fourth, but trail by only four points. OSU realizes how tenuous its grip on first place is, and the players are looking to build on it this weekend.
“It’s tight now and it will be tight in March,” said senior goalie Mike Betz.
The weekend will be a test of how talented the Buckeye squad is. The team knows that a sweep would shake up the top of the league standings, but it is not thinking about this. It is just concentrating on competing.
“It doesn’t put any more pressure, just more excitement,” said junior captain JB Bittner. “A four-point swing would be huge.”
The Buckeyes are coming off a road trip to Northern Michigan last weekend that saw them lose Friday night then bounce back with a victory Saturday.
Two first-period goals Friday gave the Wildcats a lead they would never surrender. OSU could only muster one goal by Caponigri as they fell 2-1. The first period was the difference as the Buckeyes admit they didn’t come out ready to play.
“You can’t win a game in one period, but you sure can lose one,” Betz said.
Saturday night the Buckeye offense came out firing. Led by Caponigri’s first career hat trick OSU cruised to a 6-1 victory.
Betz continued to excel, stopping 34 of the 37 shots he faced in the series. The Buckeye currently leads the league in goals-against average, giving up 1.29 goals a game.
“We always know he’s going to be there,” Bittner said. “He rarely has an off night, and that gives us a lot of confidence.”
Betz credits his success to hard work and discipline.
“It’s just a matter of confidence and not having any regrets,” he said.
The goalie was not the only OSU player to have a great weekend, however. Freshman forward Matt Beaudoin scored his first goal for the Buckeyes on Saturday, and fellow freshmen Dave Barton and Sean Collins tallied their first points for OSU. The overall focus was on the players learning their roles, and the team finding its identity.
“It took us our first couple weeks to discover what kind of team we are, but now I think the guys know what we have to do to be successful,” Bittner said.
Being resilient is a characteristic of the team. The Buckeyes are 4-0 in games following a loss.
“In order to be a team at the top of the league you can’t have losing streaks,” Betz said.
