After a closely contested game Friday night, Wisconsin and Ohio State returned the ice for a rematch on Saturday. Goals were difficult to come by once again. Despite another outstanding performance by the Buckeye goaltender, the Badgers ultimately prevailed.
| scoring by period | 1 | 2 | 3 | final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 2 Wisconsin | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Ohio State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Wisconsin controlled much of the action in the first period. The Badgers outshot Ohio State 12-2. The Buckeyes struggled to initiate their offense. A pair of penalties further hampered their efforts.
OSU did an excellent job of killing those penalties but used up a lot of time and energy in doing so. The fouls also kept the Bucks’ better scorers off the ice for a sizable chunk of time. In the end, though, the most significant numbers from the opening frame were the two goose eggs posted by UW’s Ann-Renee Desbiens and OSU’s Alex LaMere.
The theme of Badger shots and Buckeye penalties continued into the second period. Wisconsin pelted LaMere with another 18 shots. She surrendered only one goal. Baylee Wellhausen finished off centering pass to give Wisconsin a 1-0 lead at the 4:02 mark.
Ohio State’s penalty killers were called upon again midway through the middle frame. They denied the Badger power play for a third time and even mustered some offense, nearly setting up a shorthanded tally. Back at even strength, the Buckeye offense continued to slowly build momentum. Katie Matheny narrowly missed a second chance at the tying goal as she came up short on a two-on-one.
A checking call against UW’s Mikalea Gardner gave OSU a golden scoring opportunity late in the period. After the teams traded further penalties, resulting in a 4-on-3 advantage for Ohio State, the Bucks pressed hard for the tying goal, but they were denied by Desbiens at every turn.
Wisconsin’s Sam Cogan made the possibility of a Buckeye comeback a little tougher with a goal just minutes into the third period. Desbiens put an end to any hope of a rally as she fended off all nine shots she faced in the final frame. The Badger goalie finished the game with 13 saves. LaMere stopped 35 of 37.
While Saturday’s game was not as good a showing for Ohio State as last night’s contest, the series as a whole has to be seen as a positive. On average Wisconsin outscores opponents 8-1 in a series. The Badgers got the better of the Buckeyes, but only by a 4-1 margin. Besides OSU, only North Dakota has managed to hold UW to four or fewer goals in a series this season.
Perhaps most impressive takeaway from the series is that Ohio State did not exhibit the steep drop off in energy from Friday to Saturday that occurred the last time the Bucks faced the Badgers. The team looks stronger now than it did at the beginning of the season which is a real testament to the conditioning coaches.
Next up for the Buckeye women is a road trip to face No. 7 Bemidji State. It’s the final regular season roadie for Ohio State. Games are scheduled for next Friday at 8pm ET and Saturday at 5pm ET.
WCHA Watch
After today's loss Ohio State remains in seventh place in the WCHA with 17 points. Minnesota-Duluth completed its sweep of Minnesota State earlier this afternoon. This draws the Bulldogs into a fifth place tie with St. Cloud State at 28 points a piece. Both teams are 11 points ahead of the Buckeyes with four games remaining on the schedule.
