Ohio State’s long, strange trip of a hockey season has come to an end. The Buckeyes were defeated by Minnesota in the Big Ten semifinals this evening. In a bit of role reversal from yesterday’s quarterfinal, OSU gave a game effort but came out on the losing end of the boxscore.
The Buckeyes weren't able to get on the board in the first period, however they did kill off a pair of Gopher advantages and traded scoring chances with Minnesota. It was a solid foundation on which to build the rest of the way but, although Ohio State continued to be strong in other aspects of the game, the Bucks never solved netminder Adam Wilcox.
| goals by period | 1 | 2 | 3 | final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ohio State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Minnesota | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
The ice opened up in the middle stanza and the pace of the game picked up dramatically. Minnesota drew first blood as Sam Warning fired a rising shot past Buckeye goalie Christian Frey. A fortunate bounce increased the Gopher lead midway through the third period. An empty net tally sealed the Minnesota win and put an end to Ohio State’s season.
Christian Frey made 20 saves in the loss. Wilcox turned aside all 39 Buckeye shots. Neither team gained an advantage on special teams. Both power plays came up empty in three tries.
The loss stings, but it isn’t terribly shocking. The Gophers are a very good hockey team. If they showed up to play today they were going to present a big challenge for the Scarlet and Gray. Unfortunately, that’s what happened.
If there’s a silver lining to be found in the loss it’s that the Buckeyes didn’t really beat themselves. They were just taken out by a very talented team. The Gophers move on to face the winner of tonight’s second semifinal, featuring Michigan and Michigan State.
The final six weeks of the season were fun while they lasted. Hopefully a bit of that momentum carries through the offseason and the Buckeyes open October with a bang. We’ll chat about the second half and hand out some virtual hardware before signing off for the summer so be sure to stop by for that next Friday.
