Matt Tomkins' Injury Leaves Ohio State Thin in Goal

Ohio State picked up a 6-1 win over Niagara last night to complete a sweep of the Purple Eagles, but may have suffered a big loss in the process.

Just over three and a half minutes into Saturday's game, Ohio State goalie Matt Tomkins left the game with an apparent injury to his right leg. According to USCHO, Tomkins is still in the process of being evaluated to see the severity of the injury, but there is concern that it could end Tomkins' season.

The timing of the injury could not have come at a worse time for Ohio State. On November 3rd, the school announced that Tomkins' back-up, Collin Olson, had left the program, ironically, due to concerns about playing time.

With Olson gone to the USHL, and Tomkins potentially missing an extended period of time, Ohio State is left with freshman Logan Davis as the only active goalie on their roster.

Davis is an interesting story. He grew up in the metro Columbus-area as a lifelong Ohio State fan. He played goalie for the Columbus Jr. Blue Jackets U18 AAA program last year, and had plans to go to junior hockey after graduating high school. But his plans changed when the Buckeyes had a goalie depart the program late last summer, and he was offered a spot as the third-string goalie. Now, he potentially finds himself as the Buckeyes' only hope in goal.

Ohio State will host Canisius for a pair of games next weekend, then take a week off before opening Big Ten conference play with a home-and-home series against Michigan. That will be Ohio State's last series before heading into the semester break, at which point, they could potentially try to bring in another goalie for the second semester of the year, should Tomkins be unable to play for an extended period of time.