The fifth seeded women's hockey Buckeyes began their WCHA tournament campaign today with the first battle in a best-of-three series at fourth seeded North Dakota. The Fighting Hawks had the upper hand early in the contest. They outshot Ohio State 12-2 in the opening period. Midway through, Amy Menke put the host squad ahead 1-0.
| scoring by period | 1 | 2 | 3 | ot | final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ohio State | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| North Dakota | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
The first goal of any game is important but this one carried extra weight. A Buckeye comeback today would snap a season-long streak. Heading into today's tilt North Dakota was undefeated when scoring first (14-0-3).
Well, to borrow a line from Inspector Clouseau, "Not anymore." Ohio State did rally. Julianna Iafallo struck in the second period, deftly tapping home a set up from Lauren Spring and drawing the Buckeyes even with the Hawks.
| buckeye goal scorers (assists) | pd | time |
|---|---|---|
| Julianna Iafallo (Lauren Spring, Dani Sadek) | 2 | 13:17 |
| Katie Matheny (Julianna Iafallo, Maddy Field) | 3 | 7:59 |
| Lauren Boyle (Julianna Iafallo) | OT | 2:05 |
Iafallo was a major force in the tilt. She factored in every single OSU score. The junior forward ended the game with a goal and two assists.
North Dakota unleashed another barrage of shots on the OSU net in the third period. The Hawks outshot the Bucks 10-2 over the game’s final 20 minutes. But it was the Buckeyes who next surged ahead. Katie Matheny was the last OSU stick on a pinballing puck which beat UND goalie Lexie Shaw at the 7:59 mark.
Kassidy Sauve was a stalwart defender of the Buckeye net throughout the game. She stopped 31 shots in all today and is now just 15 saves shy of breaking the team record for saves in a single season. However, despite Sauve’s best efforts, the Hawks’ relentless attack finally paid off with just over three minutes to play. Jordan Hampton was the last Hawk to touch a bouncing puck which eventually ricocheted in off a Buckeye defender.
Knotted at 2-2, the game headed to extra time. With the playoff overtime rules in place the teams could have been in for a long night, but the game winning goal was not long in coming. Just over two minutes in, Buckeye defenseman Lauren Boyle collected Iafallo’s faceoff win and fired off a shot which deflected into the back of the net for a huge 3-2 Ohio State win.
Watch the highlights from Friday night as UND loses 3-2 to Ohio State in the WCHA First Round. https://t.co/PthwNOhrSG
— North Dakota WHockey (@UNDwhockey) February 25, 2017
Ohio State and North Dakota meet again tomorrow at 3pm ET for Game No. 2. If the Bucks claim victory they will win the series and advance to the single-elimination WCHA semifinals next week. If North Dakota prevails, the series will go to a deciding third game on Sunday afternoon.
- Check out a photo gallery from today's game via OSU.
