Women’s Hockey Bucks Win Stuff Day continues into the postseason. After major contributions to Ohio State’s opening round series sweep of Minnesota State, two Buckeyes earned accolades. Junior forward Maddy Field earned the NCAA’s Second Star of the Week as well as WCHA Offensive Player of the Week honors. Junior defender Lauren Boyle is the WCHA’s Defensive Player of the Week.
| 2017-18 WCHA Weekly Honors | Buckeye Winners |
|---|---|
| Offensive Player of the Week | Maddy Field, Jr. F (2x) |
| Tatum Skaggs, Fr. F (2x) | |
| Lauren Boyle, Jr. D | |
| Emma Maltais, Fr. F | |
| Liz Schepers, Fr. F | |
| Defensive Player of the Week | Kassidy Sauve, RS-Jr. G (4x) |
| Lauren Boyle, Jr. D | |
| Rookie of the Week | Emma Maltais, Fr. F (3x) |
| Tatum Skaggs, Fr. F (2x) | |
| Liz Schepers, Fr. F |
Field was practically unstoppable last weekend. She potted five goals on 12 shots over two games. The veteran dinged Mavericks goalie Chloe Crosby three times in Friday’s contest, posting her first career hat trick.
Crosby and the Mavs were no match for Field on Saturday either. The Buckeye scoring machine rang up two more goals for a series total of five. OSU head coach Nadine Muzerall was pleased by Field’s output, but not surprised. “It was great to see Maddy play with confidence; she’s one of the best goal scorers in the WCHA and tonight reinforced that."
The Buckeyes are moving on to the @WCHA_WHockey Final Faceoff after yesterday's 5-2 win, and we've got the highlights right here! #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/VfPyGqfAXL
— Ohio State Women's Hockey (@OhioState_WHKY) February 25, 2018
Boyle collected a goal and four assists in the sweep of Minnesota State, bringing her season total to a career-best 25 points. She was +6 in the series and a key cog in a Buckeye defense which helped netminder Amanda Zeglen (who was an honorable mention for WCHA rookie of the week) hold the Mavericks to just two total goals against in the series.
| 2017-18 NCAA Weekly Honors | Buckeye Winners |
|---|---|
| First Star of the Week | Kassidy Sauve, RS-Jr. G (2x) |
| Second Star of the Week | Lauren Boyle, Jr. D |
| Maddy Field, Jr. F |
Final Faceoff Showdown
With the sweep of Minnesota State, Ohio State advanced to the WCHA’s Final Faceoff for the first time since 2013. As tourney’s second seed, the Buckeyes will face third-seeded Minnesota in a single elimination semifinal on Saturday at 6pm ET. Fans not able to attend the game will be able to stream it live, for free. We’ll have that link for you again in Friday’s series preview.
Regular season champ Wisconsin takes on fifth seed Bemidji State (who knocked off fourth-seeded Duluth) in the other semi. The semifinal winners square off on Sunday afternoon at 3pm ET in the WCHA championship game. All games will be contested at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis.
Poll Watch
Ohio State (23-9-4) swaps spots with Cornell and moves up to No. 5 in both of this week’s national polls. The Buckeyes remain at No. 6 in the PairWise rankings, which mimic the selection formula used by the NCAA tournament committee. A good showing at the Final Faceoff can only improve OSU’s chances for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. Things look pretty good for the bubble-sitting Bucks right now, but we’ll be keeping an eye out for upsets in the other conference tournaments.
