COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State men’s hockey team rallied from a third-period deficit to close out the first half of play with a 3-2 win over Bentley in a non-conference game in Value City Arena Saturday. The Falcons scored 1:51 into the third period to take a 2-1 lead. Buckeye sophomore Hunter Bishop tied the game at 11:55 of the third and freshman Zac Dalpe tapped in a puck from mid-air at 1:11 of overtime to give Ohio State the win.

The Buckeyes enter break 11-6-1on the year (6-5-1-1 CCHA) and as winners of nine of their last 10 games, including the last six. Bentley is 6-8-1 (5-4-1 AHA).

The teams were tied at 1-all at the end of the first period, with each squad scoring on the power play. Ohio State opened the scoring at 6:04. Sophomore Shane Sims led Hunter Bishop down the right side into the Falcon zone, and sophomore Sergio Somma deflected Bishop’s pass under Falcon goalie Kyle Rank for his fifth goal of the season and fourth in the last five games. The Falcons, who had just two shots on their first three power-play chances in the period, tallied with 6.6 seconds remaining in the period to tie the game. After work down low by Dain Prewitt and Aaron Stonacek, the puck came to Ryan Kayfes at the point, and his shot got through for the power-play marker. The Buckeyes put nine shots on goal in the period, with Bentley getting eight shots on net. The Buckeyes converted their one power-play chance, with Bentley 1-for-4.

The teams remained knotted at 1 after the second period despite combining for 30 shots. Freshman Cal Heeter made 12 saves in the Buckeye net, including six on the power play. Rank had 18 saves for the Falcons, with eight on power-play opportunities. Ohio State was 0-for-2 on the power play in the period and Bentley was 0-for-1.

In the third, Jamie Nudy put the Falcons ahead when he scored at 1:51, streaking down the left side after a breakout pass from Kane Osmars. Bishop scored at 11:55, as senior captain Zach Pelletier passed to him in the crease and he was able to lift the puck over Rank. Senior Corey Elkins had the second assist on the goal. The Buckeyes had a power-play chance soon after the goal but were unable to convert. Bentley then had three power-play chances to close out the game, including a chance that carried over into overtime, but could not convert. The Buckeyes outshot the Falcons in the period, 16-11.

Dalpe scored on the only shot of overtime. The Buckeyes successfully killed off the final 44 seconds of the Falcons’ power play. The Scarlet and Gray got the puck in the Bentley zone and John Albert passed from down low to Shane Sims at the point. Sims took a shot that bounced to Dalpe at the right post. He was able to knock the puck out of midair and past the glove of Rank for the gamewinner.

In the game, the Buckeyes outshot Bentley, 44-31. Heeter had 29 saves for the Buckeyes in 61:08. Rank made 41 stops in 60:56.

Ohio State was 1-for-4 on the power play and held the Falcons to one goal on nine power-play chances.

Postgame Notes
Heeter was making his third start of the season. He ended a streak of nine-consecutive starts by sophomore Dustin Carlson.

Bishop is on a five-game goal scoring streak and has six points in his last five games combined. He had his third two-point game of the season tonight.

Albert is on a six-game scoring streak, with a 3-7-10 line, and has eight points in his last four games combined.

Dalpe’s goal was his team-best ninth goal of the year and his second in three games.

Sims is on a four-game scoring streak (1-3-4). He had his first two-assist and point game of the season and the third of his career.

Elkins is on a three-game point streak (2-3-5).

Somma has a goal in four of his last five games.

Elkins and Albert enter break with a share of the team scoring lead. Albert is first on the squad with 12 assists, followed by Elkins with 11. In all, seven Buckeyes have double-digit points.

Postgame Quotes
Ryan Soderquist, Bentley head coach
On the game
“Our goaltender (Kyle Rank) made some big saves and kept us in the game. I thought we had a good effort tonight and I was impressed in the mentality our guys, of wanting to play 60 minutes of disciplined hockey.”

On playing against NHL draft picks
“At times we may have lost a couple of battles because of size and speed but I thought we skated well through the neutral zone.”

John Markell, Ohio State head coach
On ending the year with a win
“We got the win. We still have a lot of work to do but we ended the year on a positive note. The young kids get to go home for the first time since September. I think they realized that tonight.”

On Bentley
“Bentley played a good hockey game tonight and I think they really deserved a point. They had good goaltending. We made some mistakes but it was a good up and down game.”

On Cal Heeter
“He has been playing well in practice. I talked to Dustin (Carlson) about it. I wanted to give him (Heeter) some playing time. Now, he can go back and measure himself on the break and we wanted him to be able to do that. The team in front of him had to work hard, too. It was his first home game, basically.” 

Hunter Bishop, Ohio State sophomore forward
On Ohio State’s winning streak
“It’s exciting to come back from break with a streak going on and we need to stay strong. Like coach said, we need to say even-keeled and keep riding this wave. We’re having fun.”

On the 19-day break
“College hockey is different and first-year guys don’t know what to expect with the different teams and different competition levels. We have are feeling comfortable right now and have a lot of confidence and will be ready to make a run at it when we get back.”

Zac Dalpe, Ohio State freshman forward
On gamewinning goal
“It was a timely goal and I think the goalie hit it a couple times before I was able to whack it in. It’ll be nice to go home for break with us being such a young team. We just need to keep it running when we get back.”

Hockey Game Box Score (Final)
Ohio State Men's Hockey 2008-09
Bentley vs Ohio State (Dec 13, 2008 at Columbus, Ohio)

 Bentley (6-8-1, 5-4-1 AHA) vs. Ohio State (11-6-1, 6-5-1-1 CCHA)
 Date: Dec 13, 2008  Location: Columbus, Ohio        Arena: Value City Arena   
 Attendance:1851   Start time:8:05 pm   End time:10:19     Total time:2:14   

 Goals by Period 1 2 3 OT Total
 Bentley 1 0 1 0 2
 Ohio State 1 0 1 1 3
 
   1st period - 1, OSU, Sergio Somma/5 (Hunter Bishop/8, Shane Sims/6)
6:04 (pp). 2, BEN, Ryan Kayfes/2 (Dain Prewitt/3, Aaron Stonacek/5)
19:53 (pp). Penalties - Zac Dalpe, OSU (elbowing) :29; Anthony
Canzoneri, BEN (boarding) 4:38; Shane Sims, OSU (hooking) 7:52; John
Albert, OSU (o-tripping) 15:01; Hunter Bishop, OSU (hooking) 18:19.

   2nd period - Penalties - Sergio Somma, OSU (slashing) 9:00; Mike
Switzer, BEN (hooking) 13:33; Casey Russell, BEN (interference) 17:50.

   3rd period - 3, BEN, Jamie Nudy/1 (Kane Osmars/4, Tyler Quartuccio)
1:51. 4, OSU, Hunter Bishop/7 (Zach Pelletier/1, Corey Elkins/11)
11:55. Penalties - Chris Reed, OSU (interference) 7:01; Aaron
Stonacek, BEN (hooking) 12:09; Zach Pelletier, OSU (elbowing) 14:38;
Anthony Canzoneri, BEN (hooking) 14:54; Matt Bartkowski, OSU
(interference) 16:25; Peter Boyd, OSU (hooking) 18:44.

   OT period - 5, OSU, Zac Dalpe/9 (Shane Sims/8, John Albert/12)
1:11. Penalties -

   Shots on goal - BEN 8-12-11-0 31; OSU 9-18-16-1 44.

   Power plays - BEN 1 of 9; OSU 1 of 4.

   Penalties - BEN 5 (10 min); OSU 9 (18 min).

   Goalies - BEN, Kyle Rank 2-5-1 (60:56 minutes, 44 shots-41 saves) ,
EMPTY NET (00:15, 0-0); OSU, Cal Heeter 2-1-0 (61:08, 31-29) , EMPTY
NET (00:03, 0-0).

   Penalty shots - None.

 A-1851  T-2:14   
 Three stars: 1. None    2. None    3. None   
 Ref: Dean Sanborn; Neil Stafford   Line: Tony Molina; Jared Reid
 Win-Cal Heeter (2-1-0).  Loss-Kyle Rank (2-5-1).