Update: Ohio State suffered a 6-3 loss to Wisconsin in the WCHA Final Faceoff championship game.
Ohio State women’s hockey is one win away from earning its second conference championship trophy of the year.
The Buckeyes advanced to Saturday’s WCHA Final Faceoff championship game with a dominant 5-0 semifinal win over No. 4 seed Minnesota Duluth on Friday.
Ohio State controlled Friday’s game from start to finish, taking a 2-0 lead in the first period on goals by Joy Dunne and Kiara Zanon. Emma Peschel and Makenna Webster extended the Buckeyes’ lead to 4-0 with goals in the second period while Olivia Mobley added a fifth goal for the No. 1 seed in the final period.
P1| Second media timeout with 7:23 to play
— Ohio State Women's Hockey (@OhioStateWHKY) March 8, 2024
Buckeye goals from Dunne and Zanon pic.twitter.com/AlPPU3pn4Y
No. 7 of the year for No. 7#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/hDljsvdzQ0
— Ohio State Women's Hockey (@OhioStateWHKY) March 8, 2024
.@makweb8 cleans up the rebound #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/FE2MAs4E9P
— Ohio State Women's Hockey (@OhioStateWHKY) March 8, 2024
from Mobley #GoBucks https://t.co/7faIxlYdro pic.twitter.com/LwzSM5Pgp1
— Ohio State Women's Hockey (@OhioStateWHKY) March 8, 2024
Ohio State had 44 shots on goal compared to just 17 for Minnesota Duluth.
The Buckeyes have now outscored their opponents 23-1 in WCHA Tournament play, defeating No. 8 seed Bemidji State 10-1 and 8-0 to sweep the Beavers in a best-of-three quarterfinal series.
The No. 1-ranked Buckeyes, who are now 32-3 on the season, will play the winner of Friday’s second semifinal between No. 2 seed Wisconsin and No. 3 seed Minnesota. The Gophers beat Ohio State in last year’s WCHA championship game while the Badgers beat the Buckeyes in last year’s NCAA championship game.
Ohio State, which already has one conference championship trophy this season after winning the WCHA regular-season title, is seeking its third WCHA Final Faceoff win in five years. The Buckeyes previously won the conference tournament in 2020 (after which the NCAA Tournament was canceled) and 2022 (after which they won their first-ever NCAA championship).
Saturday’s WCHA championship game is set to begin at 3 p.m. and will be streamed on B1G+.
