Hockeye team splits weekend matches

It pays to have a hot goalie. Ohio State used outstanding goaltending by freshman Ray Aho to earn a split this weekend at Merrimack University. The Buckeyes rebounded from Friday night's tough 3-1 loss, in which they allowed 50 shots on goal, to upend Merrimack 5-3 on Saturday. 'Aho played great, they brought a lot of heat on him and he was able to respond,' OSU coach John Markell said. 'Our defense played well, I know 50 shots seems like a lot, but our defense cleared the puck well and enabled me to see the puck well,' Aho said. Despite Aho's strong effort the Buckeyes offense struggled Friday only being able to notch one Chad Power goal. On Saturday, Merrimack scored the only goal of the first period but OSU was able to explode for five goals in the last two periods. 'We were able to make an adjustment and were able to create offense by playing away from the puck,' Markell said. This resulted in OSU scoring four unanswered goals to take a commanding 4-1 lead. Eric Meloche was able to give the Buckeyes offense a jump start when he scored his ninth goal of the year in the second period, to even the game. After Meloche's goal the OSU power-play unit took over notching three goals, including two by defenseman Ryan Root. 'I was proud of our kids. They responded well to the negativity that came after Friday's game,' Markell said. Pierre Dufour, who moved back to forward this weekend, helped create a lot on the offensive end, even though the readjustment to offense was hard for him, Markell said. 'They outplayed us in the first ten minutes but the good play of (Ray) Aho was able to keep us in the game,' Markell said. Aho was solid in net again for the Buckeyes, making 29 saves in earning the win. 'This win should help the team build confidence, which should help us as we head back into conference play,' Aho said. The Buckeyes will jump back into conference play this weekend as they travel to East Lansing, Mich