If Ohio State fans learned anything in this series it's that the game isn't over until the clock zeroes out. Tonight's contest featured more late game fireworks. Unfortunately for the Buckeyes they were on the wrong side of the late game goals this time around.
The two teams skated fairly evenly through the early part of the first period. Mike Sullivan drew first blood for Bowling Green midway through the frame. A cross ice pass spread the Buckeye defenders out and Sullivan's hard shot got by a sliding Craig Dalrymple as well as Buckeye goalie Christian Frey.
| goals by period | 1 | 2 | 3 | final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bowling Green | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Ohio State | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
As the period progressed, though, the Buckeyes began to control more of the play. They had several odd man chances in the latter half of the period. Though these plays didn't end in a goal they did result in an OSU power play as well as a penalty shot for Tanner Fritz.
Falcon goalie Chris Nell turned aside the penalty shot along with 11 other Buckeye attempts, but he didn't have an answer for Josh Healey's blast from the point. Tyler Lundey won a faceoff cleanly back to Healey who ripped a shot by the Bowling Green netminder, tying the game at 1-1.
The ice would not be nearly so level in the second period. The Buckeyes spent much of the frame killing penalties. They were whistled for fouls on four occasions. The PK unit finally cracked at the 17:32 mark as the Falcons netted a 5 on 3 goal.
Ohio State was not entirely without opportunities in the period, but they were few and far between. The Buckeyes officially recorded one shot to Bowling Green's ten, although they did hit a pipe midway through the stanza.
Junior Sam Jardine was the story in the third period. The Buckeye defenseman had Frey's back on (yet another) penalty kill, earning big cheers from the hometown crowd for his goal line save. Then with 3:27 left on the game clock, Jardine tied the game with an unassisted goal.
Unfortunately Jardine was also involved in the play, moments later, when the Falcons regained their lead. Brandon Hawkins got a generous amount of space off Jardine and fired a relatively uncontested shot that beat Frey. Though the Buckeyes launched a furious assault on the Bowling Green net they weren't able to replicate last night's last minute victory.
Ohio State held Bowling Green to one power play goal in seven tries. The final shot count was 30-29 in favor of Bowling Green with Frey making 27 stops.
It don't know whether this game is a step forward for the Buckeyes but it wasn't much of a step back either. They had more scoring opportunities than any other game I've seen them play this season. It would've been nice to see the Bucks cash in on a few more of them, but I'll take the chances for now. It was also great to see Craig Dalrymple back on the blue line and not too rusty.
OSU returns to the ice next Thursday and Friday when they open Big Ten play by hosting Michigan State.
Gophers Sweep Buckeye Women
For the second straight game Ohio State attempted a comeback against No. 2 Minnesota. For the second straight game that attempt fell short.
| goals by period | 1 | 2 | 3 | final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| Ohio State | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
The Gophers opened the scoring at 8:47 of the first period when Meghan Lorence dented Buckeye goalie Kassidy Sauve with a power play goal. Ohio State captain Sara Schmitt drew the Bucks even just over a minute into the second period. Melani Moylan and Julia McKinnon were credited with assists on the play.
Minnesota regained the lead in short order as Lorence picked up her second tally of the game. The Buckeyes battled back. Taylor Kuehl evened the score with help from Claudia Kepler. The power play marker was Kuehl's third goal of the series.
It appeared the teams would head to intermission deadlocked at 2-2, but the Gophers' Rachel Bona struck with less than a minute remaining. Minnesota took the lead for the third time in the game. This time they held onto it.
The Gophers racked up another two goals early in the third period. Kepler gave the Buckeyes some hope, cashing in on a power play with five minutes left on the clock, but Minnesota would go on to win by a final score of 5-3.
Though they didn't get the results they wanted the Ohio State ladies put up a good fight, particularly considering the contest was their third game against a top 10 opponent in five days.
Up next the Buckeyes travel to Grand Forks to take on another big conference foe, North Dakota.
