Ohio State’s men’s hockey team has had a tough season so far, posting a 7-12-1 record heading into this weekend’s series at Notre Dame. Despite the slow start to the season, the Buckeyes are still playing
hard for head coach Steve Rohlik, who is in his 13th season as head coach at Ohio State.
Following the month-long break in December, the Buckeyes returned to the ice earlier this month and have gone 2-2 in the four games they have played. After splitting a pair of non-conference games with Bowling Green, Ohio State also split two Big Ten games with Michigan State in Columbus.
Following a 6-2 loss to the Spartans on Jan. 9, the Buckeyes earned a 2-1 win the next night. Nathan Lewis opened up the scoring at 2:53 of the second period with his third goal of the season. After Michigan State tied the score eight minutes later, Davis Burnside registered the game-winning goal at 8:01 of the third period. Burnside now has eight goals this season, which is tied with Max Montes and Adam Eisele for the team lead.
The star of the weekend for Ohio State was goaltender Samuel Hillebrandt, who was named the Big Ten’s Third Star of the Week after stopping 40 of the 43 shots he faced against Michigan State over two games. Hillebrandt didn’t start Friday night’s game but took over in net in the second period after the Spartans scored four goals in the first period.
The freshman goaltender stopped 14 of 16 shots on Friday in two periods of work, followed by 26 of 27 shots in Saturday night’s victory.
Despite an awful start to the first game of the series against Michigan State, expect Kristoffer Eberly to continue to get most of the work between the pipes for the Buckeyes. After posting a 12-4-1 record last year with two shutouts and a 2.28 goals against average, Eberly is 6-9-1 with a shutout and a 3.16 goals against average in 16 games this season. Hillebrandt has appeared in six games, posting a 1-3 record with a 3.69 goals against average.
If Ohio State is going to make a push in Big Ten play the rest of the season, they are going to need to find some more offense, as the Buckeyes have been outscored 69-59 this season. Freshman forward Jake Karabela leads the team with 17 points, with 13 of those being assists. Burnside and Felix Caron sit just behind Karabela with 16 points. There are eight skaters on the team with at least 10 points so far this season.
What’s on tap for the Buckeyes this weekend
Not only has Ohio State had a week off to prepare for this weekend’s series, but they will also be taking on the team at the bottom of the Big Ten standings. Notre Dame is just 4-17-1 this season, and has lost nine straight games. The Fighting Irish still haven’t recorded a win in conference play this season. This marks the first of two series against Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish will travel to Columbus in early March for the final series of the regular season for the Buckeyes.
Since making the NCAA Tournament in 2022, Notre Dame has been on a downward spiral, missing the tournament in each of the last three seasons. Through 22 games this season, the Fighting Irish have been outscored 95-55. Evan Werner leads the team with nine goals, while Sutter Muzzatti has a team-high 17 points. Goaltending has been an issue for Notre Dame this year, as Nicholas Kempf is 4-15-1 with a 3.84 goals against average in 20 games.
Outlook for the rest of the season
The good news for Ohio State is that they have played the fewest Big Ten games of any team in the conference so far this year. The bad news is it’s going to be hard for the team to break into the top four, a spot currently occupied by Wisconsin with 22 points, which is 13 more than the Buckeyes have. With their slow start to the season, it’s unlikely Ohio State is going to be in the mix for an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament, meaning they’ll have to win the Big Ten Tournament and earn an automatic bid.
Stranger things have happened on the ice. Sometimes a team finds its rhythm and things start clicking, and it goes on an unbeaten streak. It’s hard to imagine that happening, though, since there is a lot of quality at the top of the Big Ten with Michigan, Michigan State, and Penn State. Even though they likely won’t be making the NCAA Tournament for a second straight season, expect Coach Rohlik to get as much as he can out of his team the rest of the way.
