Men's Hockey
Buckeyes Sweep Sacred Heart as Freshmen Shine
By Paula C. Weston
Tom Fritsche is a helpful guy. When the Buckeyes swept visiting Sacred Heart 5-1 and 7-1 last weekend, the rookie left winger helped on seven goals, including assists on Dan Knapp's three in the Saturday contest - a feat that earned Fritsche CCHA Rookie of the Week honors.
"I'm always thinking pass first," said Fritsche, whose 13 points so far this season have all been assists, no goals. "I've been a little upset about it the last couple of games, but...it will come sooner or later. Don't want to get too mad about it."
With the win, Ohio State (7-3-0, 5-1-0 CCHA) gained no points in league play, and is now tied with Michigan (7-2-0, 5-1-0 CCHA) for the lead in CCHA standings.
Fritsche leads the Buckeyes in scoring, leads the CCHA in assists, and is among the top 20 scorers in the nation.
"He's getting frustrated because he hasn't scored," said captain JB Bittner, who had two goals of his own in the 7-1 win. "I told him, 'Give me all of your assists and I'll give you a bunch of my goals.'
"He's unbelievable when he has the puck on his stick. It surprises me because he's so small and not very strong, but can't get knocked off the puck very easily."
"He creates," said Knapp. "Even if he's not the primary assist on the play, it's what he does on the puck to free everybody else up. He uses his speed. He weighs, what, a buck-sixty soaking wet, but he doesn't get pushed off the puck."
Fritsche wasn't the only rookie who played like a veteran in the series. His linemates, Domenic Maiani and John Dingle, each had two goals on the weekend. All are freshmen.
Head coach John Markell said that he has no misgivings about putting an all-rookie line on the ice. "They're hockey players and they're going to try their hardest and give us what they got. That's what I expect from them and that's what our team expects from them. They did some things out there that weren't freshmen moves."
Junior Rod Pelley had a goal in each game. Freshman goaltender Ian Keserich registered his first win in the Friday contest, and junior Dave Caruso improved to 6-2-0 for the season with the Saturday win. Knapp's hat trick in the second game was the second of his career.
Knapp credits his nine-year-old cousin for his three-goal performance. "My little cousin called me and told me the other day, 'You've got to score. Shave your head again.' That's how I got the idea. As soon as I scored the third one I thought, 'That little snot knew what he was talking about.'"
In February, Knapp netted his first hat trick in Big Rapids against Ferris State after shaving his head. "I went up north and in the first game I couldn't score, and the second game I got a hat trick. I hadn't been finishing my scoring opportunities, so I took [Sean] Collins' razor and clippers...and scored some goals."
In the first game, Pelley scored from the right point after picking up Dan Knapp's rebounded shot to make it 1-0 after one. Maiani's backhander from Fritsche at 1:22 in the second was the only scoring of that stanza, and the Buckeyes led 2-0 after two.
"We were just flying around today and creating chances down low, using our speed," said Maiani. "My linemates certainly helped me."
It was Maiani again at 3:15 in the third, skating in alone and crossing in from the left circle to the right of the net to pull SHU goaltender Kevin LaPointe away enough give the Buckeyes a 3-0 lead. Dingle padded that at 6:31, taking a sweet cross-slot shuffle from Fritsche to make it 4-0.
Kalen Wright gave the Pioneers their only goal of the night at 12:32 on the power play, after Buckeye Nate Guenin received a five-minute major penalty for spearing and game disqualification, but at 15:20 - still shorthanded from Guenin's infraction - Matt Beaudoin added OSU's fifth goal.
"Obviously I'm upset with the five-minute penalty," said Markell. "We're trying to curb that kind of stuff.
"We've got to learn from our mistakes, and we made some mistakes. We played a good team. In the first period, they might have had one on us but we might have had four. We want to build on the good stuff and whatever we pick off the tape that we think we can improve on we're going to try to improve on."
"I think after Ohio State scored that first goal they really turned up their game," said Hannah. "These games against a team like Ohio State when you're not playing your game plan and you're not executing the way you need to, it results in shots on net, good scoring opportunities against, and a lot of times goals against.
"We spent a lot of time in the second period just watching."
OSU went 1-for-5 on the power play to SHU's 1-for-6. LaPointe made 43 saves in the loss.
In the Saturday win, the Buckeyes led 1-0 after one on Knapp's first goal of the night, on the Buckeye power play, and second-period goals by Dingle and Knapp made it 3-0 after two, but after Peter Ferraro scored on the Sacred Heart power play at 7:15 in the third, the Buckeyes answered with four more to put the game completely out of reach.
The Buckeyes went five-for-six on the power play; the Pioneers were 1-for-9. SHU goaltender Jason Smith made 29 saves as the Buckeyes outshot the Pioneers 36-24.
"We got some good power-play goals," said John Markell. "Caruso, I thought he had trouble in the first period but he settled down in the second and third. I thought they...played with a lot of energy. They were much more physical than they were last night and they were much more physical than we were tonight in the first period.
"You just can't take a night off. The other team - it doesn't matter who they are - if they're playing with heart, they can beat you. They took it to us in the first period."
In recent years, the Buckeyes have had a habit of letting down against teams of Sacred Heart's caliber, teams that are good within their own league but not considered contenders against teams from more established leagues. Last season, the Buckeyes lost at home to Mercyhurst and barely escaped a home game against Quinnipiac, both teams in Sacred Heart's league. This weekend was notably different, said Bittner.
"Winning the championship last year, guys understand how everything has come full circle with this program. Even when we were up three or four to one, in years past we would have been satisfied with that, but this year we have that killer instinct and we want to put teams away."
Dingle was added to the duo of Maiani and Fritsche during OSU's series against Western Michigan (Oct. 29-30), a move that has clearly produced results.
"In practice, Coach Jones said that once I got with these guys I got my feet moving, because I needed to keep up with them," said Dingle. "I think it's elevated my game. We see each other really well, communicate really well. From the first couple of practices, we have clicked."
Fritsche said the key to the line's success is its laid-back approach in practice, business-like attitude in games. "We goof around. We have fun. We don't like to get too serious about it."
Next up for Ohio State (7-3-0, 5-1-0 CCHA) is a home series against league opponent Northern Michigan, Nov. 13-14. The Saturday game begins at 7:05 p.m., the Sunday afternoon contest at 2:05.
Notes:
Pelley's goal in the 7-1 game was one of just two he's scored even-strength this season. The junior assistant captain has eight goals this season, and his six power-play tallies lead the league. Pelley, who had 10 goals for the entire 2003-04 season, said he's enjoying his position at right point on the power play. "I've got Domenic, Dan Knapp, and Sean Collins up top. We're just doing a high roll and getting pucks on net. I'm just shooting...and it's working out right now."
Knapp's hat trick was the first scored by a Buckeye in Value City Arena since Nick Ganga's on Oct. 21, 2000 vs. Niagara.
Knapp's three power-play goals tie a team record. The record of three man-advantage goals was set five times previously, and the last player to accomplish the task was Chad Power on Oct. 15, 1994.
OSU's five power-play markers is a Value City Arena record, but not a team record. The Buckeyes were 6-for-11 on the power play in the two-game set against Sacred Heart (54.4 percent).
Streaks: Maiani extended his scoring streak (4-8-12) to six games. Knapp's streak (5-7-12) has now reached nine games. Dingle has goals in three straight games and Matt Beaudoin has a three-game point streak going (2-1-3).
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