By Ken Baum
TROY, N.Y. — Taking the ice for the first time under a new coach, RPI didn’t know what to expect. Engineers goaltender Chase Perry didn’t think he would be put to work so much on Friday. Perry stopped 55 of 56 Ohio State shots to salvage a 1-1 tie.
Perry gave credit to his teammates. ” My teammates kept Ohio State to the outside most of the night which gave me the ability to see most of the pucks that came my way.”
The Buckeyes came out firing 12 shots to RPI’s four in the opening period, with Perry stopping all. The tilted ice continued in the second period with the Buckeyes outshooting the Engineers 26-4. But each team would light the scoreboard once in the middle frame.
Ohio State would score first during a goal-mouth scramble. Dakota Joshua found a loose puck laying in the crease and put it past Perry to give the Buckeyes the 1-0 lead at 3:34 of the 2nd period. After the goal, Rensselaer got called for two penalties, which gave Ohio State a 5-on-3 for a full two minutes. RPI killed it off and coach Dave Smith called it the game changing moment.
“Our emotion picked up after killing that 5-on-3. We are a new team playing together for the first time and we grew up with that kill.”
Grow up they did and tied the game a few minutes later on a power play of their own. Jared Wilson took a pass from fellow defenseman Melrs Moore and blasted a one-timer past a sliding goalie Sean Romeo at 9:35. From there, the game went back to being played along the boards with few chances for either team.
Smith added, “We got better as the game went on. Our guys did a great job of keeping them to the outside and clearing pucks as well as letting Chase see the pucks they shot. ”
