The Grand Valley State University men’s hockey team kept its undefeated start to the season going with a weekend sweep over the Ohio State Buckeyes.

GVSU (4-0-1) played on back-to-back nights Friday and Saturday in Columbus, leaving the Lakers at 3-0 on the road this season.

The Buckeyes (1-3-0) were over matched by the potent offense of the Lakers. Jumping out to an early one-goal lead two minutes into the first period Friday, the Lakers set the tone for the weekend as the Buckeyes wouldn’t see a lead in either contest.

“Ohio State was weak defensively,” said senior goaltender Scott Tiefenthal. “We started off strong and continued from there.”

With the win, Tiefenthal improved to 3-0-1 on the season.

Senior forward Jeremy Christopher led the way offensively on Friday for the Lakers recording a hat-trick in the 8-3 victory. While GVSU’s high-scoring offense shined, defensive lapses late in the game, along with poor positioning, led to goals for the Buckeyes.

“We’re glad to have the wins,” said senior Captain Craig Marrett. “We played well at different parts of the games, but there were parts when we played down to our opponents level.”

Going into Saturday’s tilt, the confidence level was high for GVSU. After jumping out to an early lead again and dominating the five-on-five play for much of the weekend, the Lakers started to show more signs of bad habits as the Buckeyes scored three unanswered goals during the third period before finally putting them away for good.

“We didn’t allow many chances against us … they could not match our speed and overall team play,” Marrett said. “We were playing fairly well … we had a lot of chances and shots, which helped us put away the game early and not let them think they could come back.”

Sophomore goaltender Doug Chidester improved to 3-0 backstopping the Laker’s to the 10-5 victory. Brad Wilhelm led the offensive charge with a hat trick of his own.
“(Christopher and Wilhelm) were probably the best two players of the weekend,” Marrett said.

Composure and hard work were key for the Lakers success and not allowing the games to become overwhelming with so much going right on the offensive side of the ice were things head coach Mike Forbes told to his team.

“Before the third period of both games (coach Forbes) stressed that we need to compete to our potential,” Marrett said.

It was a sentiment that not only was stressed within the game, but also before, keeping it fresh in the Lakers’ minds.

“Coach Forbes talk to us prior to (Saturday’s) game and reminded us that positioning and hard work is more important than skill,” Tiefenthal said.

With two weeks off before their next game, the Laker’s will have a home-and-home series matchup with Miami University (Ohio). Both games will be played at Georgetown Ice Arena on Nov. 9 and 10.

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