On Friday night the No. 6/7 women’s hockey Buckeyes were victims of the holiday layoff and a prepared Penn State squad. Saturday’s rematch was a much different story. Ohio State bombarded the Nittany Lions with shots and skated away with a 2-0 victory.
| Scoring by Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penn State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| No. 6/7 Ohio State | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
The teams began the game on equal footing but that changed around the halfway point of the first period. That’s when PSU’s Amanda McLeod was penalized for slashing Kassidy Sauve. Whether the team was extra pumped about going on the advantage or extra ticked off about the slash, that power play was the beginning of an all-out Buckeye assault.
The Bucks outshot the Nittany Lions 31-11 over the next 30 minutes. Only stout defense by PSU goalie Hannah Ehresmann kept the Penn State in the contest. She thwarted the Bucks until the 10:49 mark of the second period, but eventually the relentless OSU assault paid off.
| Buckeye Goal Scorers (Assists) | Pd | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Liz Schepers (Tatum Skaggs, Lauren Boyle) | 2 | 10:49 |
| PS - Grace Zarzecki | 3 | 11:29 |
Liz Schepers beat the beleaguered goaltender with a feed from fellow freshman Tatum Skaggs. In the third period Grace Zarzecki stretched the Buckeye lead to 2-0. The junior went mano a mano with Ehresmann on a penalty shot and sniped her fourth goal of the season.
The score would be more than sufficient for Sauve. The Buckeye goalie stopped every one of the 24 shots she faced. This shutout is Sauve’s sixth of the season. She ranks third nationally in 2017-18 whitewashes.
Ohio State is back in the Ice Rink next week to host a rematch with No. 9 Robert Morris. The Buckeyes and Colonials tangled in Pittsburgh back in November. The teams split that series with OSU taking the first game 7-3 before Bobby Mo pulled out a 3-2 overtime decision. Next week’s games are scheduled for Friday at 6pm ET and Saturday at 3pm ET.
- With today's win Ohio State improves to 13-5-4 overall and 5-3-0 in non-conference play.
- The Bucks outshot the Nittany Lions 41-24 for the game. Zarzecki led the Scarlet and Gray with eight shots on net.
- OSU owned an overall CORSI% of 62.7% for the game and a whopping 76.7% for the second period.
- Ohio State played once again without leading scorer Emma Maltais. She has been skating with Team Canada at the Nations Cup. The tournament wrapped up today with the Canadians defeating Germany 5-1 to secure a fifth place finish.
