The women’s hockey Buckeyes entered tonight’s game in seventh place in the WHCA, five points back of sixth. The team ahead of them? Their bitterest rival, and this week’s opponent, Minnesota-Duluth. When the final horn sounded in Friday’s game, the teams retained their positions in the conference standings but the gap had narrowed considerably.
| scoring by period | 1 | 2 | 3 | final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ohio State | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| Minnesota-Duluth | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
Duluth’s Michela Cava kicked off the scoring, beating Buckeye goalie Alex LaMere 3:25 into the game. Ohio State defenseman Dani Sadek responded 20 seconds later with a game tying power play marker. This would start a crazy sequence of penalties and power play scores. Over the first two periods the teams would go on six collective advantages and tally six collective power play goals.
Cava rang up the next score, a man-advantage tally. Then Buckeyes Lauren Spring and Lauren Boyle cashed in on power plays. The Bulldogs’ leading scorer, Ashleigh Brykaliuk, potted one with 31 seconds left on the clock. At the end of a wild and wooly first period, the score stood at 3-3.
Ohio State’s top snipers went to work in the opening minutes of the middle frame, building a Buckeye lead. Claudia Kepler and Kendall Curtis netted their tenth and twelfth respective goals of the season just over a minute apart. Melani Moylan added another log to the fire at the 6:12 mark with OSU’s fourth power play goal of the game.
| pd | time | buckeye goal scorers (assists) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3:45 | PP - Dani Sadek (Kendall Curtis, Claudia Kepler) |
| 1 | 13:37 | PP - Lauren Spring (Cara Zubko, Julia McKinnon) |
| 1 | 16:01 | PP - Lauren Boyle (Cara Zubko, Lauren Spring) |
| 2 | 1:17 | Claudia Kepler (Maddy Field) |
| 2 | 2:28 | Kendall Curtis (Julianna Iafallo, Dani Sadek) |
| 2 | 6:12 | PP - Melani Moylan (Julia McKinnon, Lauren Boyle) |
LaMere and the OSU defense thwarted every attempt by Duluth in the second period. Heading into the tilt’s final twenty minutes, Ohio State led 6-3. The Bulldogs narrowed the gap with a Morgan Morse goal at the 8:44 mark. But the Buckeyes held off their last ditch efforts and prevailed by a final score of 6-4.
Shots in the game were 33-32 in favor of Ohio State. The Buckeyes converted four of their five power play opportunities. Minnesota-Duluth scored on each of its two advantages. Six different Bucks recorded goals in the contest. Seven separate players posted a two-point game.
With the win Ohio State creeps closer to sixth place in the WCHA. The Bucks are now just two points behind Duluth. The teams conclude their series tomorrow at 5pm ET. Online video is available through NCHC.tv for a fee.
