The Ohio State women’s hockey team continues to exceed expectations. The Bucks opened with a sweep of RPI and then pressed No. 1 Wisconsin to a shootout. This weekend the team rolled into Bemidji to face the No. 8 Beavers. Three unanswered tallies and an exceptional goaltending effort later, OSU is celebrating a top-10 upset.
| scoring by period | 1 | 2 | 3 | final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ohio State | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| No. 8 Bemidji State | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
The Scarlet and Gray jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. Lauren Spring and Erin Langermeier struck quickly and decisively. The two netted first period goals less than three minutes apart. Langermeier’s marker would hold up as the game winner. Rebecca Freiburger scored a third Buckeye goal midway through the second period.
| pd | time | buckeye goal scorers (assists) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4:10 | Lauren Spring (Rebecca Freiburger) |
| 1 | 6:49 | Erin Langermeier (Jacyn Reeves) |
| 3 | 7:44 | Rebecca Freiburger (Lauren Spring) |
Bemidji State finally got on the board 9:52 into the final frame when Madison Hutchinson beat Kassidy Sauve, but the OSU netminder was strong to the end. Sauve turned aside every other shot she that faced to earn her twelfth career win. Freiburger and Spring led the Buckeye offense with a goal and an assist each.
Ohio State coach Nadine Muzerall had a glowing review for Spring after the game:
“She was our MVP of today’s game. She played the best two-way game today for us, scoring her goal and assisting on Rebecca’s. She’s been a fantastic leader for us and she has performed exceptionally well so far; we have big expectations for her this year.”
The Beavers outshot the Bucks 36-22 in the contest, a total which included a whopping 19-4 margin in the third period. Each side went 0-for-1 on the power play. The teams square off again at 4pm ET tomorrow.
