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Ohio State hockey bounced from first round of NCAA Tournament

Ohio State hockey bounced from first round of NCAA Tournament

USA Today27-03-2025
Ohio State hockey bounced from first round of NCAA Tournament
After a surprising and overachieving season, the Ohio State men's hockey team saw its season conclude on Thursday with an 8-3 loss to Boston University in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Things started out well for the Buckeyes after they got on the board first in period No. 1 when Joe Dunlap lit the lamp with 10:53 left before the first break. Things stayed that way until about midway into the second period, when Boston scored its first of many goals off a faceoff to knot things up at one.
Things would go back and forth from there throughout the period. Dunlap scored his second goal of the game on a power play to give the Scarlet and Gray the lead, but then some up and down action saw the Terriers score on a power play to even it at two, and then the two teams each scored again within the final two minutes of the period. OSU even had one taken off the board after an offside review. Things went into the second break with the two tied at three goals apiece and an entertaining game seemingly on tap.
And then the wheels fell off.
Boston scored a whopping five goals in the third period to take control of the game on a dicey effort from the defense and goaltending to send Ohio State home with the end of its 2024-2025 campaign. It sure looked like a tired Buckeye squad as the sands of the hourglass got less and less. Perhaps so many overtime games and extra games through the Big Ten Tournament were too much to overcome.
Either way, OSU now heads into the offseason and will look to see what the roster will look like and if it can put the pieces in place to make another run next season.
Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion. Follow Phil Harrison on X.
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Luck fought back tears as he explained his decision. "(The injuries have) taken my joy of this game away. I've been stuck in this process, haven't been able to live the life I want to live. After 2016, I played in pain. ... I said I wouldn't go through that again." Much like the Colts' back-to-back franchise quarterback injury woes, the Pacers had a double whammy with their 1982 and 1983 NBA first round draft picks, Clark Kellogg and Steve Stipanovich. Kellogg was the 8th pick in the first round, a star player at Ohio State where he earned All-Big Ten Conference and Most Valuable Player honors. He didn't disappoint his rookie season in the NBA, averaging 20.1 points and 10.6 rebounds. His stellar play landed him a deal with Converse for his own signature shoe. But before his second season with the Pacers, the cartilage around Kellogg's left knee began to deteriorate, leading to the first of three surgeries within four years. With each injury and surgery, Kellogg tried to come back, but he missed many games throughout his career. After his third surgery in November 1986, Kellogg realized he couldn't make a comeback this time. He retired in 1987. When he left the game (having played 260 games in total), Kellogg left a stuffed stat sheet, despite his injuries. During his career, he averaged 18.9 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.9 assists. As Kellogg was fighting through his injuries in the 1980s, Stipanovich was right beside him. The 7-foot center was Drafted No. 2 in the 1983 NBA Draft by the Pacers after a stellar career at Missouri. But a severe injury to his left knee caused a dead spot in the bone. The team reported that Stipanovich had undergone multiple surgeries and treatments, including doctors drilling a hole to try to revive the dead area, but none of it worked. The injury was just too serious. 'It seems to have gotten worse,' Stipanovich said of the injury as he retired from the Pacers in 1989 after only five seasons. Modern day Pacers fans may not remember Kellogg and Stipanovich, but many can recall the Paul George injury that sidelined their star player. After being drafted by the Pacers in 2010, and becoming what the team hoped would be a longtime franchise player, George broke his leg during a Team USA basketball scrimmage in August 2014. The injury was a compound fracture of his tibia and fibula that occurred as he attempted to block a shot. George missed the first 76 games of the 2014-15 season, spending months in rigorous rehabilitation, undergoing two surgeries and finally coming back. Then only six games back from that leg injury, George felt a strange pop in his other healthy left leg during a game. It was a strained left calf muscle. With George out for most of the season, the Pacers missed the playoffs for the first time in eight years. 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