After an open weekend on their schedule, the Ohio State University Men’s ice hockey team returns to the ice this weekend for a non-league series against the Mercyhurst Lakers of Atlantic Hockey Association at Value City Arena in the Schottenstein Center.

     Prior to the open weekend, the 17th ranked Buckeyes (7-3-0, 4-2-0-0-0-0 B1G) split a Big Ten series against the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

     During a recent media access session, Buckeyes Head Coach Steve Rohlik noted the team worked on “sharpening a little bit of everything” since their last game while specifically mentioning necessary improvement on special teams.

     The Lakers (3-5-4, 3-3-4-1 AHA) skate into Columbus after splitting a home-and-home series against Canisius last weekend.

     Carson Briere leads Mercyhurst and is fourth in Atlantic Hockey with 12 (8G, 4A) points in 10 games. Not far behind Briere are Dante Sheriff (11 points) and Austin Heidemann (10 points).

     The series is the third of five non-league series on the Buckeyes schedule and Rohlik cited the value of every series stating, “Every game is so important. We just want to continue to get better, then the wins and losses will take care of itself.”

     Ohio State first-year goaltender Jakub Dobeš continues to impress, owning a 1.39 goals against average and .946 save percentage.

     Dobeš believes the open period between the Buckeyes last game and the Mercyhurst series allowed him a mental break saying, “It is different for players and goalies. We (goalies) are in the game 60 minutes. I like it (the break) because it does give me rest for my mind and think I will enjoy the games more and I am ready."