Plague infects Case Western

Oberlin's ice hockey team remained undefeated on the road last weekend, as they beat Case Western Reserve University on Saturday and shut out the College of Wooster 12-0 on Sunday.

Against Case Western, the Plague led from the start, commanding a 3-0 lead in the first period, and netted an impressive 6-2 victory.

"The pace of the game was hard but we put Case away quickly," junior defenseman and co-captain Dan Bourque said. "We moved the puck considerably well. And most importantly, we played as a team."

Senior forward Greg Scranton accounted for much of the offense, as he turned in a hat trick. Sophomore center Zoltan Szuts and junior forward/co-captain Ben Bernard contributed to the Plague's offensive threat, as each scored a goal. Szuts also assisted on one of Scranton's goals.

"We won because we used the entire depth of our team. We also had a lot of hard hits against Case, especially from [first-year] Pete Schall," Bernard said.

On the other end of the court, senior netminder Ralph Cuseglio played a tight game in the crease with 12 saves, including two rejections of opposing breakaways. Sophomore forward Evan Kelley played his usual strong back-checking game.

On Sunday, in the Plague's final stint on the road, the opposition did not fare so well. The Plague annihilated Wooster in a 12-0 romp. Senior forward Greg Scranton netted his second consecutive hat trick. Cuseglio turned in his first shutout of the year. Bourque and junior Matt Winstanley each had a goal.

The offensive highlight of the night, however, came from the stellar play of Szuts, who recorded the first hat trick of his relatively short career with the Plague. Senior forward Jesse Robinson, junior forward Paul Reinitz and sophomore defenseman Nick Party all delivered strong performances in the win.

The team will finish its season at home today against CWRU. Faceoff is at 9:45 at Williams Ice Rink.