Ohio State vs St Cloud State 10/11 - 10/12

[osualum86]

To be honest, I am still stoked about our team's OT victory at Mercyhurst Saturday, but this is a new week with a new opponent. The team has put Saturday's game in the rear view mirror and I need to do the same. This weekend brings our first home series and first league series. St Cloud was picked to finish 8th in the WCHA by some media outlets, but as we have all learned, there are no easy outs whatsoever in the WCHA. St Cloud will come here and give us their best effort. Last year we had a number of series where we came out and won Friday night's games, only to come back Saturday and not finish the job. Coach Nate has said recently regarding this coming season that we need to finish better. If our team plays the way they did at Mercyhurst, they will be a tough out for anyone. If last year taught our team one thing, it would be that they need to bring their 'A' game every night out, every weekend. I cannot wait to get to the OSU Ice Rink Friday and get my first look at this team. St Cloud fans, what can we expect to see out of your team this weekend? Good luck to both teams. Here's to an injury-free couple of games and safe travels for everyone!

[brookyone]

Re: Ohio State vs St Cloud State 10/11 - 10/12

To be honest, I am still stoked about our team's OT victory at Mercyhurst Saturday, but this is a new week with a new opponent. The team has put Saturday's game in the rear view mirror and I need to do the same. This weekend brings our first home series and first league series. St Cloud was picked to finish 8th in the WCHA by some media outlets, but as we have all learned, there are no easy outs whatsoever in the WCHA. St Cloud will come here and give us their best effort. Last year we had a number of series where we came out and won Friday night's games, only to come back Saturday and not finish the job. Coach Nate has said recently regarding this coming season that we need to finish better. If our team plays the way they did at Mercyhurst, they will be a tough out for anyone. If last year taught our team one thing, it would be that they need to bring their 'A' game every night out, every weekend. I cannot wait to get to the OSU Ice Rink Friday and get my first look at this team. St Cloud fans, what can we expect to see out of your team this weekend? Good luck to both teams. Here's to an injury-free couple of games and safe travels for everyone!

The Huskies could prove a tougher foe than some might anticipate, in typical WCHA rivalry fashion ...but I'd pick the Buckeyes to sweep.

Advantage behind the bench for one thing. That's an op-ed.

[ARM]

Re: Ohio State vs St Cloud State 10/11 - 10/12

I'll let The Boomer give you a better analysis, but the two cent summary on the Huskies is that they have good goaltending, play scrappy D, but still have problems scoring. If the Buckeyes can score three, they will win. If they score two, they may win anyway. Scoring one is pushing it.

[osualum86]

Re: Ohio State vs St Cloud State 10/11 - 10/12

Thanks for the posts, guys! We'll see what happens this weekend. If we can put a 4-spot up against The Hurst on the road, I would think we can score some goals this weekend in our home opener. My stupid DirecTV went out yesterday due to the storms around here and I have been hearing that we were shown during the NLDS game last night between the Cards and Pirates. Mike Matheny is the Cards manager and his daughter Katie is a freshman for our Bucks.

[ARM]

Re: Ohio State vs St Cloud State 10/11 - 10/12

If we can put a 4-spot up against The Hurst on the road, I would think we can score some goals this weekend in our home opener.

Not necessarily. I've seen both Mercyhurst and SCSU this year, and I think the Huskies are a little better defensively right now. Stronger goaltending. They shut out Quinnipiac, a team with a very good first line, for over 115 minutes this weekend, before the Bobcats got going. If you can get a lead on the Huskies, they'll have a hard time coming back.

I have been hearing that we were shown during the NLDS game last night between the Cards and Pirates. Mike Matheny is the Cards manager and his daughter Katie is a freshman for our Bucks.

Yes, they mentioned that he attended the OSU game at Mercyhurst. Not too often that we get a women's hockey mention during a major-league telecast, so it was cool.

[osualum86]

Re: Ohio State vs St Cloud State 10/11 - 10/12

Not necessarily. I've seen both Mercyhurst and SCSU this year, and I think the Huskies are a little better defensively right now. Stronger goaltending. They shut out Quinnipiac, a team with a very good first line, for over 115 minutes this weekend, before the Bobcats got going. If you can get a lead on the Huskies, they'll have a hard time coming back.

Now that you mention it, I do recall Julie Friend being a tremendous goaltender. We'll have to get traffic in front of the net and score some greasy goals if we want to be successful. Friend will make us earn those goals. This is really an important series for us because last season we had some success against the top teams (except Minnesota, of course). What killed us in the standings was not finishing the job against teams below us in the standings. That put us on the outside looking in regarding the top four (regular season). Thankfully we played a great series in the first round on the road at Duluth and were able to get to the Final Four. It's brutal trying to be one of the eight teams that gets into the NCAA Tournament when you play in a league with the top three or four teams in the country. We are still looking for our first trip to the NCAA Tournament. I really like the direction we're headed in. We'll see how close or far away we are to achieving that goal. I am enjoying the ride Coach Nate has our program on and I sincerely hope he is here for a long time.

[ARM]

Re: Ohio State vs St Cloud State 10/11 - 10/12

Now that you mention it, I do recall Julie Friend being a tremendous goaltender.

SCSU plays both of their goalies more than any other team in the league, and Katie Fitzgerald is pretty good as well.

[The Boomer]

Re: Ohio State vs St Cloud State 10/11 - 10/12

I'll let The Boomer give you a better analysis, but the two cent summary on the Huskies is that they have good goaltending, play scrappy D, but still have problems scoring. If the Buckeyes can score three, they will win. If they score two, they may win anyway. Scoring one is pushing it.

Not much to add to ARM's analysis. St. Cloud did have two good games against Quinnipiac, but one goal in two games ain't gonna get 'er done.

#3 Audrie Hanmer is fun to watch--good defender, and can rush the puck very well. Forward sophomore #16 Vanessa Spataro seems much improved. Her feistiness and more confidence makes her a fun player to watch, too. And ARM is right--both Julie Friend and Katie Fitzgerald are very solid netminders.

(I also think SCSU's travelling jerseys are very cool, so enjoy them also!)

[osualum86]

Re: Ohio State vs St Cloud State 10/11 - 10/12

Not much to add to ARM's analysis. St. Cloud did have two good games against Quinnipiac, but one goal in two games ain't gonna get 'er done.

#3 Audrie Hanmer is fun to watch--good defender, and can rush the puck very well. Forward sophomore #16 Vanessa Spataro seems much improved. Her feistiness and more confidence makes her a fun player to watch, too. And ARM is right--both Julie Friend and Katie Fitzgerald are very solid netminders.

(I also think SCSU's travelling jerseys are very cool, so enjoy them also!)

Thanks Boomer! Have a safe trip if you are coming down!

[pgb-ohio]

Re: Ohio State vs St Cloud State 10/11 - 10/12

The Schott, and a Men's Hockey match-up with the Miami Redhawks, beckon tonight. I hate missing any OSU Women's Hockey games, but there it is. Sigh.

I'm sure that at least three stars will shine brightly at the Ice Rink, but this "astronomer" won't be there to observe. The Unofficial Three Stars will return for the Saturday re-match. As for Friday, I'm looking forward to reading the posts from '86, and anyone else who's able to attend the SCSU/OSU opener.

[osualum86]

Re: Ohio State vs St Cloud State 10/11 - 10/12

The Schott, and a Men's Hockey match-up with the Miami Redhawks, beckon tonight. I hate missing any OSU Women's Hockey games, but there it is. Sigh.

I'm sure that at least three stars will shine brightly at the Ice Rink, but this "astronomer" won't be there to observe. The Unofficial Three Stars will return for the Saturday re-match. As for Friday, I'm looking forward to reading the posts from '86, and anyone else who's able to attend the SCSU/OSU opener.

Pgb, unfortunately you didn't end up really missing anything tonight. I honestly don't know what we were thinking tonight but we lost in a shootout and left two points on the table. We gave up the puck deep in our own end on several occasions and the Huskies deposited two of those mistakes into the back of our net. Neither team scored in the extra period so the game went to a shootout where St. Cloud scored two goals to our one. I don't want to take anything away from St. Cloud and the big win they got tonight against us because they deserved it, but I just did not see any urgency from our team tonight. We were 1-7 on the power play. St. Cloud had five power plays and we killed all five. The penalty kill was one of our bright spots tonight. We won face-offs 38-36, and we outshot St. Cloud 43-26. Other than that, I don't know, it just seemed like everyone was waiting for someone else to score the third goal that probably would have won it tonight. Just based on the reactions from different persons associated with our team (not going to mention names), everyone realizes this was unacceptable. That's a good thing. Hopefully we will see a completely different Ohio State team tomorrow and we can at least salvage four of the six points. Dang, just when you think we are about to turn a corner or climb another rung of the ladder (after a big road win vs Mercyhurst), we take a step back. As disappointed as I am, I know our kids and coaching staff are even more disappointed. I just watched the post game press conference with Taylor Kuehl, Sara Schmitt, and Coach Handrahan. You could tell they weren't happy. Coach said we need to finish and get more traffic in front of the net in order to beat their goaltender. As he said, if Friend sees the puck she is going to stop it, and that was certainly the case tonight. St. Cloud has been known to rotate their goalies as both are solid, but if I were their coach, I may go with Friend again. She was outstanding tonight. Hate to call a game a must win this early in the season, but we have to come out and get a W and three points tomorrow. With a road trip to Grand Forks looming next weekend, we can ill afford to come out of this weekend with less than four points. That's all I have to say about that!

[The Boomer]

Re: Ohio State vs St Cloud State 10/11 - 10/12

Congrats to the SCSU Huskies! Good to see the puck finally go in the net for them. And, yes, Julie Friend is a very good goaltender. Katie Fitzgerald usually plays the Sat. contest, and her numbers are nearly identical to those of Friend.

[pgb-ohio]

Re: Ohio State vs St Cloud State 10/11 - 10/12

Pgb, unfortunately you didn't end up really missing anything tonight.

Well, I want to support the program through thick and thin. So I still wish I was there.

About the only silver lining is that this heightens my interest in the rematch even more. Based on your report, it sounds like the team will be more than on board with that sentiment.

Big thanks for the game summary. It gives the reader a good feel for what went on.

[osualum86]

Re: Ohio State vs St Cloud State 10/11 - 10/12

Well, I want to support the program through thick and thin. So I still wish I was there.

About the only silver lining is that this heightens my interest in the rematch even more. Based on your report, it sounds like the team will be more than on board with that sentiment.

Big thanks for the game summary. It gives the reader a good feel for what went on.

I, like you, will support the program through thick and thin, and have for quite a while. I will definitely be there today hoping to see a more focused, intense team. Like I said before, I don't want to take anything away from our opponent, but it clearly was not our best effort. I expect a different effort today, as well as a different result. Glad you will be there. I'll be looking for your three stars of the game afterward!

[osualum86]

Re: Ohio State vs St Cloud State 10/11 - 10/12

Nice win today. This was more of what I expected last night. The Buckeyes jumped on SCSU with two goals in the first period, then added another one in the second and took a 3-0 lead into the third period that the Huskies were not able to overcome. SCSU did play some spirited hockey in the third and got a couple goals to pull within 3-2, but the Buckeyes sealed it with a pp goal in the third to make the final score 4-2. Danielle Gagne opened the scoring, Ally Tarr scored the second goal, and Kendall Curtis scored what proved to be the gwg in the second period. Kari Schmitt got the goal in the third. The Buckeyes now head out on the road for a series at North Dakota on 10/18-10/19, then they have a bye week, then they head to Wisconsin for a pair on 11/2-11/3. They finally come back for home games vs Bemidji State on 11/8-11/9.