Ohio State Buckeyes Hockey Starts Season Strong, Ends with One Win in Last 16

How fast the mighty fall.

On Nov. 20, the Ohio State Buckeyes were 10-3-1 overall, coming off a road sweep of Michigan, and ranked first in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association.

Fast forward to March 5, and OSU is 15-15-5 and is done for the season.

The 2011-12 campaign came to a close with two losses by two goals each in the first round of the CCHA Tournament this weekend at Notre Dame. A 1-11-4 mark down the stretch was largely responsible for the Buckeyes tumble down both the league standings (9th) and the Pairwise Rankings (21st). Now OSU, once ranked as high as No. 2  in the nation this winter,  will have to wait until October to begin its search for redemption.

It will have to do so without senior goaltender Cal Heeter, who ended his career third in Buckeye history in both goals-against average (2.58) and save percentage (.915). He is also ranked eighth in saves (2428), ninth in victories (39), sixth in minutes played (5260:59) and is tied for fifth in shutouts (5).

In four years in Columbus, the St. Louis native went 39-36-11, and he was also the goalie of record for all but six OSU decisions these past two seasons. As a freshman, Heeter helped the Buckeyes to their most recent NCAA Tournament berth, where they lost to eventual-champions Boston University in 2009.

The Buckeyes were 14-4-1 following a 4-2 win over Robert Morris on Dec. 30 in the annual Pittsburgh College Hockey Showcase this season, but it all went sour following a pair of winless games at Bowling Green in early January.

The lone victory in OSU's season-ending 16-game fall came in overtime at Western Michigan on Feb. 11. Included in the skid was a 4-1 loss to Michigan on Jan. 15 outdoors at the Frozen Diamond Classic at Progressive Field in Cleveland.

This is the second year in a row that the Buckeyes have finished with 15 wins under head coach and former Wisconsin assistant Mark Osiecki, who went 15-18-4 in his first season at the helm for OSU.

The Buckeyes were also swept at Lake Superior State in the first round of the CCHA Tournament last spring, and hasn't won a playoff game since it took Miami (Ohio) to three contests in 2010.