[SLIDESHOW] Cool Cats fall to Buckeyes

Ohio State marched into Lexington the hockey kings of the Southeast division, with a target on the back of their sweaters and an opponent looking to usurp the throne.

Ohio State marched out of Lexington with a firmer grip on the crown.  The Buckeyes solidified its No. 1 ranking and left UK wondering where exactly it sits among the power teams.

No. 4 UK (17-6) was unable to topple the division royalty, losing to the Buckeyes 5-4 on Saturday.

The game, billed all week on hockey flyers as the “Buckeye Beatdown,” was more of a back-and-forth battle that saw UK score to close to within one goal on three separate occasions.  The Cool Cats kept lurking, never quite going away, but was never able to mount a run that could have swung the game in their favor.

“It was a good showing by this team,” UK head coach Rob Docherty said.  “We weren’t quite able to push through and grab a lead but we skated well with the No. 1 team in our division.”

UK lost 5-2 in Friday’s contest, and Saturday’s game was another chance to prove it belonged on the ice with the top-ranked team in the division.  UK felt like it didn’t necessarily need to win to prove that.

“We played a solid game,” Docherty said.  “We’re not far behind them.  But you have to give Ohio State credit, they’re a good hockey team and earned their No. 1 spot.  We played well, and unfortunately someone had to lose.”

Docherty said the Buckeyes were a little stronger on the boards and quicker clearing out pucks.  Still, UK isn’t entirely disappointed with taking a pair of losses to close out the first half of the season.

“We played really well tonight even though we didn’t get the win,” senior forward Tony Valerino said.  “Obviously we wanted the win, but the effort was definitely there and we just got beat by a good team.”

The high-powered UK offense was stymied by Ohio State’s defense and superb goaltending.

“They [Ohio State] made it hard to score,” junior goalie Jim Borgaard said.  “They had good low coverage on us and we couldn’t really handle the puck into their area.”

The Cool Cats looked to have tied the game up once again with under a minute left when a shot rattled off the post.  The near-miss seemed to represent the 60 preceding minutes.

“We got looks, but bounces just didn’t seem to go our way,” junior defender Jay Morgan said.  “We created lots of opportunities, those last couple shots almost went in, but we just weren’t able to finish a couple of them.”

“They [Ohio State] made it hard to score,” goalie Jim Borgaard said.  “They had good low coverage on us and we couldn’t really handle the puck into their area.”

The Cool Cats looked to have tied the game up once again with under a minute left when a shot rattled off the post.  The near-miss seemed to represent the 60 preceding minutes.

“We got looks, but bounces just didn’t seem to go our way,” said Jay Morgan.  “We created lots of opportunities, those last couple shots almost went in, but we just weren’t able to finish a couple of them.”