Darn that Molly Illikainen. The St. Cloud senior had a hand in every goal today as the Huskies defeated Ohio State. Her scoring streak now stands at six games. Over that stretch she has accumulated nine goals and four assists, which includes two goals and an assist from today’s contest.
| scoring by period | 1 | 2 | 3 | final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ohio State | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| St. Cloud | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
The game began well enough for the Buckeyes. Claudia Kepler struck in the first minute of the game. The one goal lead stood until the final minute of the opening period. Illikainen set up Alyssa Erickson for the game tying tally.
The senior increased the Huskies’ lead midway through the second period. The Buckeyes battled back. Leading scorer Kendall Curtis evened the score with assistance from Dani Sadek and Julianna Iafallo. Illikainen had one more trick up her sleeve though. With a shade less than four minutes to play she potted her second goal of the game and secured a win for the home team.
| pd | time | buckeye goal scorers (assists) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0:24 | Claudia Kepler (Kendall Curtis, Alexa Ranahan) |
| 3 | 9:42 | Kendall Curtis (Dani Sadek, Julianna Iafallo) |
Ohio State goaltender Alex LaMere turned aside 15 shots in the loss. The St. Cloud netminder, Katie Fitzgerald, finished with 24 saves. Neither team recorded a power play goal in the contest. The Huskies went 0-for-3 with the advantage. The Buckeyes did not have a power play opportunity in the game.
The teams conclude their series tomorrow afternoon. The opening faceoff has been moved up to 2:30 p.m. ET. Live stats and online video are available through St. Cloud’s website.
