Box Score

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Two goals from Zac Dalpe, two points from both Peter Boyd and Hunter Bishop and 36 saves from Cal Heeter led the Ohio State men's hockey team to a 4-2 victory over Western Michigan Saturday in Value City Arena. The win gave the Buckeyes (5-6-1, 4-3-1-1 CCHA) a sweep of the Broncos (5-4-1, 1-4-1-1 CCHA) after a second-consecutive 4-2 victory.

The Buckeyes led 2-1 after the first period, with Dalpe scoring on the power play at 12:40 and Bishop tallying at 16:54. Greg Squires drew the Broncos within one with a 5-on-3 goal with 14 seconds left in the period. There was no scoring in the middle period. In the third Dalpe added his second of the game at 7:42 to push the Buckeye lead to 3-1. Patrick Nagorsen scored less than three minutes later to again trim the lead to one (3-2). Boyd closed out the game with an empty-net tally with 20 seconds left. Heeter made 14 saves in the third period for the victory, Ohio State's third in a row.

Dalpe put the Buckeyes on the board at 12:40 of the first, taking a pass from Bishop and scoring from the high slot with the Buckeyes on the power play. Shane Sims had the second assist on the goal. Bishop made the score 2-0 at 16:54 with his second goal of the weekend. Kyle Reed and John Albert rushed the puck up the ice. Albert deflected a shot by Reed that went on net. The rebound went to the far side and Bishop, with his back to the goal, was able to backhand it off the post and then off the goalie, who was out of position, into the net. Late in the period the Broncos got on the board. Three-consecutive penalties were called on the Buckeyes, including a bench minor, giving Western Michigan a 5-on-3 for the final 1:51. The Broncos converted with 14 seconds left when Greg Squires shot from the side of the net bounced off a Buckeye in front and over goalie Heeter. Heeter made 12 saves in the period, with Ohio State putting nine shots on the Bronco net. Western Michigan had four power play chances, with Ohio State 1-for-3.

There was no scoring in the second period, as Ohio State outshot Western Michigan, 11-10. Ohio State had three power play chances, with a fourth carrying over to the third period. The Broncos were 0-for-2.

In the third Dalpe scored at 7:42. Sergio Somma worked the puck down low to Boyd. He threaded a pass to Dalpe in front of the net, who one-timed it home for his team-best fifth goal of the year. Nagorsen scored at 10:00 when he got to a loose puck in front of the net. The Buckeyes held the one goal edge until Boyd picked up the puck from an errant Bronco pass and skated up ice before scoring in the empty net at 19:40. Shots were 15 to 10 in favor of WMU in the third.

For the game, the Broncos outshot Ohio State, 38-30. Heeter had 36 stops in 59:45. Riley Gill had 26 saves for the Broncos in 58:30 between the pipes.

The Buckeyes ended the game 1-for-7 on the power play and stopped Western on 5-of-6 chances.

 Game Notes

The Buckeyes will be away from Columbus the next two weekends, beginning with a series at Ferris State next weekend. The teams will meet at 7:05 p.m. Friday and 5:05 p.m. Saturday in Big Rapids, Mich.

Dalpe had the first two-goal game for the Buckeyes this season. He had four points in the series to lead the team and now has a team-high 11 points this season. He has a point in eight of the last nine games.

Ohio State has scored four or more goals in each of its last three games.

The Buckeyes are on a season-best three-game winning streak.

After entering the series with five third-period goals, the Buckeyes outscored the Broncos, 6-2, in the stanza this weekend.

This was the Buckeyes' second win of the season where they led throughout the game and did not have to rally to go ahead.

Albert has points in each of his last three games and six of the last seven. He is second on the team with nine points and shares the assist lead with Dalpe with six each.

Sims is on a three-game assist streak, with four helpers in the stretch.

Boyd has six points in his last three games combined (3g, 3a) and is on a three-game goal-scoring streak.

Postgame Quotes

John Markell, Ohio State head coach
On the team's focus
"I was worried about our focus. There was a little larger event across the parking lot. But to say the team wasn't focused would be wrong. Western Michigan played a much more complete game tonight. A lot of things we did right Friday night we didn't do tonight until the third period."

Hunter Bishop, Ohio State junior forward
On building off the victory Friday
"Last night we played well but for the first two periods the bounces just weren't going our way. Finally in the third things started happening for us. Tonight we were looking to build off last night and we ended up being able to get things done."

On teammate Kyle Reed returning from injury
"It's really great to have Kyle back on the ice. He's good at getting down low and creating chaos on the offensive end and we really missed him when he was out. I think he gives a boost of confidence to the rest of the guys. For most guys it takes time to get back from an injury and he's doing well."

Jim Culhane, Western Michigan head coach
On his team's effort compared to Friday night
"I thought we definitely played a more complete game. We were able to put 38 shots to net, we were excellent on the penalty kill and we did a good job of fighting back after they got up 2-0 early. However, whenever you have those 38 shots on goal you should be scoring more goals and we weren't able to do that."

On Ohio State goalie Cal Heeter
"Cal played a tremendous game and made some great saves for his team."

On what he'll take from the weekend series
"I guess the theme for the weekend would be our inability to score goals. We had chances, opportunities, but we couldn't get them in the back of the net.

Greg Squires, sophomore wing
On Ohio State
"They're a good team - they hit hard and just play solid hockey overall."

On his team's effort
"Tonight I thought we played a better all-around game than we did last night, but we weren't able to finish opportunities and that was key."