After playing three solid periods of hockey Friday night against the Northern Michigan Wildcats, yet being shutout for their efforts, it looked as if another good effort Saturday evening might result in another frustrating loss for the Buckeyes when they entered the final four minutes of play down 2-1. But instead of more frustration, OSU managed to find a way to win as they have few times this season when trailing late.

It all began with one of OSU’s best three-period games Friday night in Value City Arena. The Buckeyes came out skating and hitting as hard as they have all season, but despite amassing a lopsided shot advantage, they couldn’t get a single puck past Wildcat netminder Brian Stewart. The tall, agile goalie came up with one great save after another as the Buckeyes constantly kept the pressure on. At the other end of the rink, OSU goalie Joseph Palmer was just as stingy until NMU’s Matt Siddall found the net through traffic just past the halfway point of the second period. Undaunted, the Bucks continued pressuring the wildcats in their own end firing shot after shot at Stewart - all to no avail. Each team traded disallowed goals, but the 1-0 score stood until NMU netted an empty net goal by Mark Oliver, his second point on the night, to close out the scoring at 19:09. The final tally stood Wildcats 2, OSU 0. The barrage of shots, 46 in all, by the Buckeyes told a tale of thorough territorial advantage, but the bottom line was the ability of the Wildcats to score, while the Buckeyes could not.

The win was NMU’s first ever in Value City Arena, and kept their chances alive to secure home ice for the first round of the CCHA conference playoffs. OSU, on the other hand, continued to lose at home, which has been a recurring trend throughout the season.

The Buckeyes maintained their high level of intensity Saturday night in front of one of the largest crowds of the season – 8,099. This time, they got an early reward for their strong play when freshman Peter Boyd scored on a nice wrap-around at 19:38 of the first period with assists from defensemen Johann Kroll and Corey Toy. Unlike so many other times in recent seasons when the Buckeyes have been victimized by late goals in a period, the hockey gods were smiling on OSU this time.

With the one goal advantage, the Buckeyes continued to skate well in the second period, but NMU scored twice, Gregor Hanson at 12:01, and Mark Oliver on a power play at 16:06 to take a 2-1 lead into the locker room at the second intermission. When the Buckeyes failed to exhibit the same jump through the first half of the third period, it appeared that they were heading for the same old, same old. But just when hope seemed lost, Peter Boyd lit the lamp again at 16:08 on a power play off assists from Nick Biondo and Shane Sims. The goal energized the Buckeyes and their fans, who strapped themselves in for the wild ride to the finish that would ensue on this night featuring race cars and a racing theme.

Despite a determined effort by the Buckeyes, the minutes dwindled down until only a few precious seconds remained. When freshman John Albert gained control of the puck along the boards in the Wildcats’ end, it seemed that it was too late to do any good. But Albert quickly fired the puck toward the Wildcats’ goal. Just at that moment, team leader in goals, Tommy Goebel, flashed by from behind the net and managed to redirect the puck into the net and past the startled NMU netminder. Simultaneous with the puck entering the net, the buzzer sounded the end of the regulation. The Buckeye players and fans collectively held their breath as the referee skated to the scorer’s table to check the replay to determine if time had expired before the puck crossed the goal line. After several minutes, that seemed like an eternity, the referee stepped back on the ice and signaled that the goal was good. Fans exploded into cheers and Buckeye players piled on Goebel in a wild celebration. In a season in which very little has gone right for the Bucks, they finally had something to feel good about. Best of all, was the fact that Tommy Goebel scored the winning goal on Senior Night to give all the Buckeye seniors something that they will surely remember for years to come.

The Buckeyes hit the road now for the remainder of the season except for a home game on February 26th against in-state rival, and nationally number 2 ranked Miami University. That game, despite being on a Tuesday night, should be well attended because of the intensity of the growing rivalry. Who knows, maybe OSU can skate into the CCHA playoffs with a little momentum after all.

Popularity: 50% [?]

Monday, Feb. 11 - Women’s golf is at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge in Palos Verdes, Calif.

Tuesday, Feb. 12 – Women’s golf plays the final round at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge.

Wednesday, Feb. 13 – Men’s basketball is at Northwestern. Tip off is at 9 p.m. The game will be televised by the Big Ten Network.

Thursday, Feb. 14 – Wrestling steps out of the Big Ten schedule vs. Edinboro at 7 p.m. in St. John Arena.

Friday, Feb. 15 – Men’s and women’s hockey open home series. The men face Northern Michigan at 7 p.m. in Value City Arena and the women skate vs. Minnesota State at the OSU Ice Rink.

Saturday, Feb. 16 – Men’s and women’s lacrosse open the 2008 season. The men take on Navy at noon and the women face American at 2:30 p.m. Both games will be played at North Turf Field.

Sunday, Feb. 17 – Men’s volleyball welcomes Juniata at 3 p.m. on Camper Reunion Day in St. John Arena.

Popularity: 56% [?]

Monday, Feb. 4 - Geoff Carlston was named head coach of the women’s volleyball program. He replaced Jim Stone, who retired after 26 years as Buckeye head coach. Release

Tuesday, Feb. 5 – After earning his career-first Big Ten Gymnast of the Week honor last week, Jake Bateman repeated as the conference’s honoree. Release

Wednesday, Feb. 6 – Jim Tressel announced another talented football recruiting class rated among the best in the country. Signing Day Central

Thursday, Feb. 7 – Lara Dickenmann, Caitlin Colfer, Amanda Ball and Keiana Mitchell of women’s soccer were selected adidas scholar All-America East Region team. Release

Friday, Feb. 8 – No. 3 men’s tennis handed No. 11 Wake Forest its first loss of the season, 5-1, at the Ohio State Varsity Tennis Center. The Buckeyes now are 65-4 in their last 69 matches. Recap

Saturday, Feb. 9 – Jeff See posted a career-best time (of 4:00.05) in the indoor mile and second-best in Ohio State indoor track history at the Meyo Invitational in South Bend, Ind. Recap

Sunday, Feb. 10 – Reece Humphrey’s victory at 133 pounds lifted No. 6 wrestling past No. 7 Michigan, 16-15, in front of a record crowd at St. John Arena. Football head coach Jim Tressel served as honorary coach for the wrestling Buckeyes. Recap

Popularity: 54% [?]

Members of the 1968 Ohio State Men’s Basketball Team were recognized during pre game ceremonies against Indiana on Sunday February 10, 2008. Ohio State honored the 40th anniversary of that team, which tied for the Big Ten Championship and advanced to the Final Four with the help of legendary coach Fred Taylor.

The Buckeyes had a record of 21-8 that season and third in the NCAA tournament after the Semi Final loss to North Carolina and a win over Houston in the consolation game. The Buckeyes defeated Kentucky in Lexington to reach the Final Four. The Ohio State 1968 squad was also the first to win a Big Ten playoff game to earn the right to represent the Big Ten in the NCAA tournament.

That 1968 year was the 4th apperance in the Final Four for coach Taylor, whose career spanned 18 seasons, five NCAA tournaments, adn NCAA title in 1960, two runners up finishes in 1961 and 1962, 297 victories and seven Big Ten titles.

Popularity: 62% [?]

The Columbus Destroyers Arena Football Team signed Former Ohio State Quarterback Justin Zwick on Saturday February 9, 2008.

Zwick was considered a standout high scholl quarterback at Orrville and Massilon Washington High Schools, and started part of a season with the Buckeyes before and injury opened the door for Troy Smith.

Zwick is 6 foot 4, 225 pounds and was a member of the Ohio State’s 2002 National Championship team. He completed 159 of 276 passes for 1779 yards and 7 touchdowns during his Buckeye Career.

On behalf of everyone here at BuckeyeLegends.com we wish Justin much luck in his new career path!

Popularity: 54% [?]

Just when it looked like the Ohio State men’s hockey team might be ready to control a hockey game from the opening puck drop at the Value City Arena Friday night, the bottom fell out resulting in a 5-2 loss. Starting play with a hard skating, determined mindset against the Bowling Green Falcons, the Buckeyes had several early scoring chances, but couldn’t manage to put the puck behind Falcon’s netminder Nick Eno. The Bucks were able to press the action in the Falcon’s end until they were forced to kill off two penalties before the nine minute mark of the period. From that point on, they appeared to lose whatever fire they had and Bowling Green took control. The change in momentum resulted in a goal by Derek Whitmore at 13:01, which seemed to further damage the fragile psyche of the young Buckeyes. When the Buckeyes gave up yet another late goal with just 41 seconds remaining in the period, the game was all but over for Ohio State and the decent crowd of 5, 002 began to sense that they had seen this show before.

Despite a goal by OSU’s Nick Biondo at 15:19 of the second period, with assists to Tom Fritsche and Jason DeSantis, that brought the Buckeyes within one at 2-1, the Buckeyes’ level of play never inspired confidence that they could get back into this one. And when Jacob Cepis scored on a breakaway at 18:37, hope was all but lost. OSU head coach John Markell vented his frustration with his team’s lackluster effort by calling an unusually early time out near the halfway point of the period, but his words apparently fell on deaf ears as there seemed to be no appreciable increase in the Buckeyes’ level of play after the time out.

Cepis’ second goal of the game for BG just 49 seconds into the third period, pretty much sealed the deal for the Falcons. When Whitmore found the empty net in the final seconds of the game for his second tally of the night, the third period goal at 16:34 by OSU defenseman Corey Toy, assisted by Tommy Goebel and Kyle Reed, was rendered too little, too late. With the loss, the Buckeyes abysmal home record dropped to 1-9 in league play for the season. Following the loss, coach Markell made his displeasure with his team’s effort clear, and the only question was whether or not his stinging comments would elicit a response from his team the following night.

Saturday’s rematch with the Falcons started much the same as the game had the previous evening with the Buckeyes playing fast-paced, spirited hockey from the opening faceoff. This night, however, the Buckeyes were able to put the puck into the net when Nick Biondo scored his second goal in as many nights at 4:33 of the first period, with assists to Todd Rudasill and Tom Fritsche. Even though the Buckeyes dominated play throughout the period, they skated off the ice with only a 1-1 tie as BG managed to score on one of their few really good scoring chances for the period on a goal by James Perkin at 9:37. But unlike the previous night, the goal did not slow the Buckeyes down, much to the delight of the boisterous crowd of 7,450.

Even after OSU goalie Joseph Palmer let a long range shot by Tomas Petruska elude him to give the Falcons a 2-1 lead at 3:19 of the second period, the Buckeyes showed the resilience and perseverance that has been sorely lacking for most of the season. They continued to press the action and their high level of play was rewarded when Tommy Goebel netted the equalizer at the 18:05 mark, with assists to John Albert and Todd Rudasill. For one of the few times this season, the Buckeyes left the ice after back to back solid periods of hockey, and the only remaining question was whether or not they could sustain the energy level for one more period.

The question was answered right from the start of the third period as the Buckeyes continued to skate hard and make plays. When Peter Boyd flipped a backhander into the BG net for the first of his two third period goals at 15:39, off of assists from Jason DeSantis and Sergio Somma, fans were witnessing a rare sight – the OSU hockey team playing three solid periods of hockey in the same game. Boyd’s second goal at 17:49, his seventh goal in this his freshman year, with an assist from Todd Rudasill, his third of the game, added an exclamation point to the evening’s festivities, and showed, in no uncertain terms, what these Buckeye hockey players are capable of when they put their minds to it. Now, with just a handful of games remaining in the season, can they keep it up for multiple games and make a late season push for a home ice birth in the league playoffs? Unfortunately, OSU will play all but one of its remaining games on the road, with the lone home game against NCAA #1 Miami Red Hawks on February 26th. Let’s hope that that game has some real meaning for the Buckeyes and they respond with an effort similar to the one they put forth Saturday night.

Popularity: 43% [?]

Monday, Feb. 4 - Women’s hockey brought in $125 and 25 bags of donated clothes and toiletry products in their “Hat Trick for Huck House” charity event during the weekend series with Minnesota-Duluth.

Tuesday, Feb. 5 – Men’s basketball faces Michigan at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN.

Thursday, Feb. 7 – Women’s basketball travels to fellow Big Ten frontrunner Purdue. The game will be aired live on Big Ten Network at 8 p.m.

Friday, Feb. 8 – Men’s tennis takes on Wake Forest at 6 p.m. at the new Ohio State University Varsity Tennis Center.

Saturday, Feb. 9 – Women’s hockey plays the series finale at Minnesota at 7 p.m.

Sunday, Feb. 10 – Men’s basketball welcomes Indiana at 1 p.m. at Value City Arena before wrestling tangles with Michigan at 4 p.m. in St. John Arena. Football head coach Jim Tressel will serve as honorary wrestling coach vs. the Wolverines.

Popularity: 42% [?]

Monday, Jan. 28 – Women’s basketball handled Penn State, 89-53, to give head coach Jim Foster his 650th career Victory. Recap

Tuesday, Jan. 29 – Jantel Lavender was named a finalist for the 2008 Women’s Basketball Naismith Trophy and Marscilla Packer starred in Big Ten Network’s “Court Vision.”

Wednesday, Jan. 30 – J Jaggers was named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week and it was announced football head coach Jim Tressel will serve as honorary coach in the Match vs. Michigan at 4 p.m., Feb. 10 in St. John Arena. Release

Thursday, Jan. 31 – Men’s lacrosse announced its 2008 schedule that includes seven home games, highlighted by the Buckeyes’ game vs. Denver in Ohio Stadium April 19. The No. 18 Buckeyes kick off the schedule hosting No. 17 Navy Feb. 16.

Friday, Feb. 1 – No. 50 women’s tennis defeated No. 48 Virginia, 4-3. in Charlottesville, Va. After losing the doubles point to start the match down 1-0, the Buckeyes got wins at the Nos. 3, 4, 5, and 6 singles to post the comeback victory. Recap

Saturday, Feb. 2 – In a come from behind win, men’s hockey defeated instate rival Bowling Green, 4-2, in Value City Arena with two third period goals by freshman forward Peter Boyd. Recap

Sunday, Feb. 3 – No. 3 men’s tennis picked up wins against No. 17 Pepperdine and Wright State at the Ohio State University Varsity Tennis Center. The Buckeyes (6-0) now have won 62-consecutive matches at home dating back to the 2003 season.

Popularity: 39% [?]

There was one former Ohio State football player on rosters of teams participating in SuperBowl XLII.

New England Patriots - 14, vs. New York Giants - 17
Vrabel, Mike (LB): 1 tkl and 1 ast

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