November 17, 2004
Ohio State Leads Standings After Columbus Event
The Ohio State Buckeyes currently lead the MCRHL Active Division standings, with a 6-1 record following the November 13-14 event at their home rink. Western Michigan and Eastern Michigan are both undefeated however, with less games played than OSU.
After
losing their first game of the season to Illinois State, the Buckeyes
have come back with five straight wins, including a win over the
Redbirds and upstart Miami. Some would say that OSU has had a
weaker schedule to this point in the season, though, already finishing
their season series with Purdue, Illinois State, and Illinois.
What that means is that the Buckeyes will play 8 of their final 14
games against Michigan schools, traditionally the power of the MCRHL.
As
mentioned, another team off to a great start is Miami of Ohio, a team
that missed the regional tournament last year. The Redhawks are
3-2-1 after 6 league games, are ranked 24th in the nation,
and have shutout Michigan along with sweeping the season series with
Illinois State. The Redhawks will be tested heavily this weekend
though, with two games against Western Michigan, one game against
Eastern Michigan, and the final season series game with Purdue.
In
the Development Division, everyone has now played at least 2 games,
with Michigan State B, Western Michigan B, and Northern Illinois
establishing themselves as the favorite in their respective
divisions. Many of the games played last weekend were exhibition
and did not count towards regular season standings, but games of note
would include Illinois B defeating Michigan B on Saturday. Dayton
and Ohio State B participated in their first games of the season last
weekend, and in their head-to-head matchup, tied 6-6.
There?s another full slate of games this weekend, so as always stay
tuned to mcrhl.com for standings, updates, and news from around the
league.