COLUMBUS, Ohio – Skates skirting the ice, players calling out passes and coaches shouting from the bench filled the desolate Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio as the Western Michigan University (5‑4‑1, 1‑4‑1‑1 in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association) hockey team took on The Ohio State University (5‑6‑1, 4‑3‑1‑1 CCHA) Saturday night.
The atmosphere was inanimate, the announcing voice boomed loud enough to be heard in Kalamazoo and the bleak student section barely broke the 20-person mark.
“In a rink where there is not the biggest crowd, you have to create your energy out there and that helped a lot for us to get into the game tonight,” WMU junior center Patrick Nagorsen said. “Tonight we had to make our own energy especially on the road with no one here coming for us it helped a lot.”
The physical aggressiveness from both teams in the first period set the tone for the game. OSU had five penalties, two of which were for unsportsmanlike conduct from the whole team.
The Buckeyes penalty box was getting crowded and fans tempers were rising. The Broncos held its own with a power play goal from sophomore right wing Greg Squires at 19:46 in the first period, which was assisted by freshman defenseman Luke Witkowski and junior center Max Campbell.
WMU had senior Riley Gill in goal, who let two Buckeye shots slip past during the first period, but Gill remained strong blocking out seven shots.
“We had a five on three and we were working them pretty well. We were getting shots and nothing was working,” Squires said. “I got a pass from Luke Witkowski and I tried to throw a back door to Soup [Campbell] and the puck just went off from someone’s skate, went into the air and I got a good bounce so it went in.”
The second period lacked improved numbers on the scoreboard but the game became increasingly more hostile. The Buckeyes were more interested in toying with the puck and playing the game with lackadaisical punching and dumping.
The Broncos advanced with their perceptive game and Gill made multiple important saves, crushing OSU opportunities. Freshman defenseman Matt Tennyson was sent to the penalty box at 1:44 for interference, OSU rebutted with Chris Reed interfering at 3:08. The Broncos, always about tradition, acquired another three sequential penalty kills.
“In the second, for the first 12 minutes we just rolled four lines and kept it down there the whole time we just rolled and rolled and kept creating opportunities by shutting down their break out,” Nagorsen said. “But then we got the penalty struggle and unfortunately we didn’t bury any of our chances.”
OSU was successful scoring a goal at 7:42 in the third period. Nagorsen retaliated with a goal at 10:00 in the third period, assisted by Squires and Roehl. WMU’s defense was key throughout the game but lost some focus after a Red and White jersey came at Gill.
The dramatic end to the hard fought game cumulated when WMU pulled Gill and pressured OSU’s zone. A time out at 19:31 and the extra man wasn’t enough, a puck slipped past the Broncos and the Buckeyes succeeded with another open-net goal.
“I think the theme of the weekend was our inability to score some goals,” WMU head coach Jim Culhane said. “We had opportunities, we had chances but it was just one of those weekends where we couldn’t get the puck to the back of the net. The bright side of that is that we generate scoring opportunities. That ‘it’ will come, just on this weekend unfortunately we were only able to get a couple of goals each night.”
Western Michigan returns home to face No. 1 Miami University of Ohio Friday and Saturday night at Lawson Ice Arena.
