With a month of the 2023-24 season behind them, the Buckeyes may not be where they’d like to be, but they’re definitely not where they think they’ll be five months from now.
“We’re doing fine,” said Ohio State coach Steve Rohlik. “We continue to try to strive to get better. That’s our goal. Lots of new players. Lots of new faces. I think we’re still feeling our way. We’re far from a finished picture.”
After opening the season with wins over Mercyhurst and Lindenwood, the Buckeyes have gone 1-3-3 and are still looking for their first Big Ten win of the season. The Buckeyes lost 7-1 to Michigan in their initial B1G game Oct. 20 but bounced back the following night with a 2-2 tie and extra shootout point.
“No one likes getting punched in the face,” said Rohlik. “For the first half of the first night [against Michigan], we were right there. It was a good game. All of a sudden, things went sideways.”
Rohlik said that the Buckeyes did all they could to win outright the following night.
“To do it in the shootout was fantastic but I think guys, like every night, go out there to win a game, but it was a good bounce back for our guys and a good learning lesson,” Rohlik said. “We need to be at peak form every night to win in this league.”
On the road against Omaha the following week, Ohio State tied and won. Most recently, though, the Buckeyes seemed doomed to repeat the lesson of their series against Michigan. Last weekend, they were swept at home by Michigan State, 6-0 and 6-4.
In the second game, Ohio State led twice – first on Brent Johnson’s goal 11 seconds into the game and then again when Patrick Guzzo broke a 3-3 tie in early in the third – but the Spartans scored three unanswered third-period goals to win the game.
“I think our best hockey’s ahead of us, but I like our resilience,” said Rohlik. “I like our belief. I like what they bring every day in practice, so that shows me that these guys want to get better. They want to develop. That’s what we’re going to try to do.”
The losses drop Ohio State from No. 13 to No. 19 in this week’s USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll, but polls aren’t something that Rohlik thinks about too much – whether it’s a weekly poll or the Big Ten preseason coaches poll, which predicted the Buckeyes would finish last in the conference.
“It doesn’t matter what happens to me in the first month of the year,” said Rohlik. “It matters what happens at the end of the year. There have been a lot of teams in this league that have been picked in a lot of different positions that end up way different.
“We’re in the best league in the country. We have the best coaches in the country. It’s the most competitive top to bottom and that’s what you want. For me, it doesn’t change what we do, or my approach or how hard we work. Ultimately, we just try to keep getting better.”
In their four Big Ten games, the Buckeyes have been outscored 21-7 and in three of those four games, Ohio State allowed six or more goals. Through their first eight games, the Buckeyes are allowing 3.33 goals per game on average for 44th-best team defense while scoring 2.56 per game (45th).
Until Friday’s 6-0 loss to Michigan State, Logan Terness (3.10 GAA, .836 SV%) had seen every minute of play in net this season for Ohio State. When Karsen Dorwart and Tommi Mannisto scored goals for Michigan State eight seconds apart midway through the third period, Rohlik tried to change the tenor of the game by putting junior Reilly Herbst in goal. Rohlik insists that Terness, a junior transfer from Connecticut, is Ohio State’s starter and he will not single out any player for the team’s sluggish start.
“You’ve got to win with all five, all six on the ice including your goalie,” said Rohlik. “That’s how we preach. If we’re going to have some success this year, it’s going to be because of team effort, all guys.”
Ohio State (3-3-3) continues Big Ten play this week on the road against Notre Dame (4-3-2). The Fighting Irish are the only unranked team in the Big Ten, although Notre Dame received votes in this week’s poll.
Since Notre Dame opened the Big Ten season with two ties against Penn State on the road last weekend, the Irish are also looking for their first conference win when they face off against the Buckeyes.
