Ohio State Women's Hockey Team Earns No. 1 Overall Seed in NCAA Tournament

Finishing the season (31-5-2, 23-4-1), Ohio State continued where it left off one season ago: Atop the rankings. Although the Buckeyes lost in the WCHA Final Faceoff Championship game, that remained the case Sunday afternoon when Ohio State earned the No. 1 overall seed. The Buckeyes will host a regional in the National Collegiate Women’s Ice Hockey Tournament.

NCAA tourney time

& the No. 1 seed in the tournament for the second year in a row #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/1ANd6Hey2O

— Ohio State Women's Hockey (@OhioStateWHKY) March 5, 2023

Dont forget the memories with your team that are going to be lifelong. - Nadine Muzerall

ESPNews#NCAAHockey x @OhioStateWHKY pic.twitter.com/FD6J3DAh9E

— NCAA Ice Hockey (@NCAAIceHockey) March 5, 2023

It's the second consecutive year the defending national champs earned the top seed and host a regional. It's also Ohio State's fifth appearance (fourth consecutive) in the tournament.

Ohio State is led by WCHA Player of the Year Sophie Jaques, who holds school records for most points by a defenseman (154) and her 59 goals are one away from tying the WCHA record for most career goals by a defenseman. Nadine Muzerall – who has turned OSU into a national powerhouse since her arrival in 2016 – was named WCHA Coach of the Year, the fourth time she has earned the award since arriving in Columbus seven years ago.

The Buckeyes are one of four WCHA teams that made the tournament, along with No. 2 Minnesota, Minnesota Duluth and Wisconsin.

Ohio State lost to Minnesota in the WCHA Final Faceoff Championship Saturday night after winning the regular-season title, but the Buckeyes have their eyes set on the bigger prize: Another national championship.

The Buckeyes' quest for back-to-back national titles begins next Saturday night when they will play the winner of Thursday night's game between Penn State and Quinnipiac in the second round. The game is scheduled for 5 p.m. March 11 at the OSU Ice Rink.