The No. 8 Ohio State women's hockey Buckeyes picked up tonight right where they left off last Saturday. For the second straight game the Bucks combined consistent offensive pressure with solid defense to shut out their opponent. This time, instead of unranked Penn State, the Bucks blanked national No. 9 Robert Morris.
| Scoring by Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 9 Robert Morris | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| No. 8 Ohio State | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
The Buckeyes had plenty of jump from the get go. They seized control of the action early and by the end of the first period they had surged out to a 2-0 lead. Rebecca Freiburger tipped in the Bucks’ first goal of the game. Tatum Skaggs cashed in on a late power play to give OSU a two goal advantage.
| Buckeye Goal Scorers (Assists) | Pd | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Rebecca Freiburger (Grace Zarzecki, Liv Halvorson) | 1 | 7:06 |
| PP - Tatum Skaggs (Julianna Iafallo, Lauren Boyle) | 1 | 18:26 |
| Emma Maltais (Lauren Boyle, Tatum Skaggs) | 2 | 1:01 |
| Tatum Skaggs (Emma Maltais, Charly Dahlquist) | 2 | 3:26 |
| Maddy Field (Liz Schepers, Jincy Dunne) | 3 | 0:38 |
The Buckeyes’ fantastic freshmen provided another pair of goals in the opening minutes of the second period. Emma Maltais celebrated her return from Team Canada with an opportunistic strike. The Bucks’ leading scorer capitalized on a Colonials turnover and potted her ninth goal of the season. Skaggs followed with lamplighter No. 15 on the year.
Four goals against brought an end to the night of RMU starter Elijah Milne-Price. Lauren Bailey came on in relief. She kept the net clear for the remainder of the period. However, in the third period, just like Milne-Price, Bailey fell victim to a Buckeye blitz. This time it was veteran Maddy Field ringing up a goal mere seconds into the stanza.
In a five goal hole, Robert Morris' offense woke up and angrily buzzed the OSU net. RMU posted more shots in the third period than it did in the first two periods combined. But Kassidy Sauve stayed cucumber cool and didn't surrender a single goal. She made 19 saves in the final frame and 34 overall to earn her twelfth victory of the season as well as shutout No. 7.
Head coach Nadine Muzerall shares her thoughts after tonight's 5-0 win over Robert Morris #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/Fls02w8W6r
— Ohio State Women's Hockey (@OhioState_WHKY) January 13, 2018
The Bucks and Colonials wrap up their series tomorrow afternoon at 3pm ET. Ohio State already made quite a statement already by blanking RMU's sixth ranked offense, but another good result tomorrow would really boost the Buckeyes' resume. In order for that to happen, though, the Scarlet and Gray have to avoid the kind of let down they experienced in their last series with Bobby Mo.
- See highlights from the game here.
- Tonight's win brings Ohio State's record to 14-5-4 overall.
- The Buckeyes edged the Colonials in shots on goal, 38-34. Maddy Field, Julianna Iafallo, and Liz Schepers led the way with five shots each.
- OSU also claimed a slim victory on special teams. The Bucks' power play went 1-for-4 while the penalty kill was a perfect 2-for-2.
