Kentucky hockey was defeated 5-3 by Ohio University on Friday, Jan. 27, at Bird Arena.

Wasting no time early on, Kentucky would strike first with Jake Laube scoring off a faceoff after just over one minute of play.

The Cats would score again halfway through the first period during an odd man rush with Collin Costello assisting captain Gabe D’Amico to take an early 2-0 lead.

Things were looking promising for Kentucky with the Cats’ offense appeared to be firing on all cylinders to start the game, but the momentum would begin to shift when Ohio scored two unanswered goals of its own.

Defenseman Nate James would answer back for Kentucky to retake the lead 3-2 to end the first period.

The second period would prove to be all Ohio as it scored an onslaught of three unanswered goals, making the score 5-3, which would hold throughout the third period as well, leaving the home team victorious.

Kentucky head coach Tim Pergram had spoken before about the Wildcats’ tough competition in Ohio and the rest of the conference about the difficulty of playing in the Bobcats’ home arena.

“They’re a top seven team in the nation — in our conference,” he said. “There’s not a whole lot of easy teams, so we’re going to have to get used to that physicality.”

With the second game of the weekend series being cancelled due to scheduling conflicts, Kentucky will look to bounce back as it prepares for its final home stand of the season against Michigan at the Lexington Ice Center on Feb. 2 at midnight ET.