Towson Rolls Past Ohio State 4-2
Red Hot Tigers Extend Unbeaten Streak To 9
February 2nd, 2009 at 6:23AM February 6th, 2009 12:41AM
Mount Pleasant, Pa - Ryan Cowdell scored a hat trick and AJ Miller made 24 saves to lead Towson past Ohio State 4-2.
Mike Inge and Ryan Cowdell gave Towson just what they needed when the duo connected five minutes into the contest against Ohio State. Inge found Cowdell for the goal and Towson used strong defensive play to take a 1-0 lead into the intermission.
For the second straight period, Towson was first to strike. This time defenseman AJ Nisbert found Mike Inge and Inge made no mistake in giving the Tigers a 2-0 lead. Ohio State responded two minutes later when David Hollingshead found Derek Lindsay for the first of his two goals. Ohio State goalie Matthew Smith made a few key stops late in the period to help the Buckeyes go into the third trailing only by one goal.
Ryan Cowdell gave the Lions some breathing room early in the third period when he found the back of the net for the second time in the game, staking Towson a 3-1 lead with 9:39 remaining in the contest. Things remained that way until the 5:40 mark of the third period when Hollingshead and Lindsay hooked up for the second time of the game, cutting Towson's lead down to 3-2.
Ohio State controlled the play the rest of the way, but the Tigers defense refused to give them any room to work in the offensive zone. With time running out, Ohio State was forcing shots and who else by Ryan Cowdell blocked the shot and raced down the rink and fired the puck into the empty net to seal the victory for Towson.
Much was made after the game of an obvious slight by the new Slamm Hockey blog on the Tigers. The slight in question was in regards to Ohio State's list of opponents in the coming weekend."They have to play against a top ranked team in Rutgers, but then have to settle for games against Towson and Penn State. Oh well!" It was obvious that Ohio State respected the Towson squad and didn't overlook them, but it provided just enough motivation for the Tigers that it could have pushed them over the top. BOX SCORE
