#2 ranked Ohio Bobcats take a win and a loss against #6 ranked Liberty Flames

The Bobcats had their last two home games of the season last weekend against the Liberty Flames. 

In game one of the series both teams came out with aggressive and energetic play in the first period. Goaltender Scott Bird had a huge save in the first period keeping the Flames scoreless. Senior Drake Albers put the Bobcats on the board on a goal with assists from Lance Mengel and Mathieu Ovaert. 

“It was towards the end of my shift and the puck was coming out, but I didn't really have time to skate. I tried to join the rush and stopped in front of the net, then the rebound was there and I made sure to put it in the net,” said Albers. 

The Bobcats let the Flames in shots on goal 10-4.

Around 5 minutes into the second period Ohio got their first power play of the game on a hooking penalty. The Bobcats were unable to score on the power play but were still outshooting the Flames. The play on both teams started getting even more aggressive. Ohio and Liberty received offsetting penalties late in the second period. The Bobcats kept the Flames to only three shots on goal during the entire second period bringing the shots overall to 22-7 in favor of the Bobcats. 

Around two minutes into the third period, Brady Gilbert took an interference penalty and gave Liberty their first power play of the game. They were unable to score during the power play, but just seconds after the Bobcats got back to full strength, the Flames scored. Liberty took another penalty for interference and seconds later, Mathieu Ovaert took a hooking penalty for the Bobcats. Just as the offsetting penalties ended, Kevin Kasper served a bench minor for too many men on the ice for Ohio. The Bobcats got their third power play on a holding penalty. The Bobcats were unable to score on the power play, but just a minute after Nolan Abraham scored at 15:13 assisted by Donovan Burdette and Mathieu Ovaert. 

“I was in the corner, got it in the slot, got to the backdoor and just tapped it in. It completely changed the game, tied 1-1 and we ended up scoring so the energy was pretty high after that,” said Abraham. 

With Abraham's goal, the Bobcats took the win against the Flames. 

In game two of the series Nolan Abraham scored for the Bobcats in the first period assisted by Mathieu Ovaert and Blake Dustin. Soon after, the Bobcats had a five on three power play opportunity, but were unable to score. Sophomore Tj Richey received a five minute major penalty for spearing and was ejected from the game. Alex Mazzuca served the penalty for Richey. Liberty scored on the power play bringing the score 1-1. 

Starting the second period, Ohio got two power plays back to back, but on the second power play, Liberty scored a short handed goal. Later in the period, Lance Mengel took a penalty for checking from behind, giving Liberty their second power play of the night. Fights broke out just a few minutes later and both teams had two players in the penalty box. To end the second period, Noah Holt got an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, but the Bobcats were able to kill off the Flames power play. 

The Bobcats had two power plays at the beginning of the third period, but did not score on either one. Tommy Kloepfer took a tripping penalty halfway through the third. The Bobcats had two more power plays in the third period and at the end of the second, pulled goaltender Garrett Alderman to have an extra skater on the ice. Unfortunately, the Flames scored an empty net goal and took the win 3-1. 

“We know what we could have improved on tonight, so that leaves a feeling that gives us a push for next weekend,” said captain Jack Glen. 

“We have to be able to play with emotion and go to the line without going over it. I thought we got distracted with some of the outside noise and some of the uncontrollables. The focus will be on us and not them. There has to be purpose and detail to what we do and discipline in all things,” said head coach Barry Schutte. 

The Bobcats have their final regular season games of the season against the Liberty Flames.