Hello my puckish friends. Happy Women’s Hockey Bucks Win Stuff Day. Just to change things up a little today is also Women’s Hockey Bucks are Nominated for Stuff Day.
| Women's Hockey | Individual Honors | Week |
|---|---|---|
| Tatum Skaggs, Fr. F | WCHA Offensive Player of the Week | No. 1 |
| Emma Maltais, Fr. F | WCHA Offensive Player of the Week | No. 2 |
| Tatum Skaggs, Fr. F | WCHA Rookie of the Week | No. 2 |
| Kassidy Sauve, Jr. G | NCAA First Star of the Week | No. 3 |
| Kassidy Sauve, Jr. G | WCHA Defensive Player of the Week | No. 3 |
| Maddy Field, Jr. F | WCHA Offensive Player of the Week | No. 4 |
| Emma Maltais, Fr. F | WCHA Rookie of the Week | No. 4 |
| Emma Maltais, Fr. F | WCHA Rookie of the Month | No. 5 |
| Lauren Boyle, Jr. D | NCAA Second Star of the Week | No. 7 |
| Lauren Boyle, Jr. D | WCHA Offensive Player of the Week | No. 7 |
| Emma Maltais, Fr. F | WCHA Rookie of the Week | No. 8 |
| Tatum Skaggs, Fr. F | WCHA Rookie of the Week | No. 9 |
| Emma Maltais, Fr. F | WCHA Rookie of the Month | No. 10 |
| Kassidy Sauve, Jr. G | WCHA Defensive Player of the Week | No. 10 |
| Liz Schepers, Fr. F | WCHA Offensive Player of the Week | No. 11 |
| Tatum Skaggs, Fr. F | WCHA Offensive Player of the Week | No. 15 |
| Kassidy Sauve, Jr. G | WCHA Defensive Player of the Week | No. 15 |
| Maddy Field, Jr. F | WCHA Offensive Player of the Week | No. 16 |
| Liz Schepers, Fr. F | WCHA Rookie of the Week | No. 16 |
The latest edition of WCHA weekly awards is out and two-thirds of your winners skate for the Scarlet and Gray. Maddy Field is the conference’s Offensive Player of the Week. Liz Schepers rakes in Rookie of the Week honors. Both made big contributions to Ohio State’s first ever sweep of then-No. 5 Minnesota.
Field led the Buckeye scorers with four points against the Gophers. She collected an assist in Friday’s contest but it was in the series finale that she truly shined. The veteran posted goals in both the second and third periods that helped Ohio State thoroughly grind Minnesota down and lock up the win. Field also picked up an assist in the finale. Today’s conference laurel is her second of the season and the third of her career.
Schepers continued to demonstrate that Tatum Skaggs and Emma Maltais aren’t the only talented Buckeye rookies. The Mound, Minnesota native netted three points last week, including both of the series’ game winning goals. She struck late in Friday’s contest to cap an OSU rally and knock off the Gophers. On Saturday Schepers was on the board early, helping the Bucks build an insurmountable lead and secure the series sweep. This marks her second WCHA honor of the season as well.
Kassidy Sauve earned an honorable mention for Defensive Player of the Week for her 54 saves against Minnesota. She was beaten out for the top spot by St. Cloud State’s Janine Alder who posted two more saves and about a dozen more save percentage points in a game and a half vs. Minnesota-Duluth.
For the first time in program history the Buckeyes swept the Golden Gophers in a series. Check out the full recap video here!#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/c2HZLP3kaz
— Ohio State Women's Hockey (@OhioState_WHKY) January 22, 2018
Senior forward Lauren Spring chipped in three assists against Minnesota. However, her on ice contributions aren’t the only reason she is in the news today. Spring has been named one of eleven nominees for the Hockey Humanitarian Award, given annually to “college hockey’s finest citizen.”
To be considered for the award players must make notable contributions to both on the ice and in their communities. Spring is this year’s only repeat nominee. Finalists for the honor will be announced in February and a winner selected in April as part of the Frozen Four weekend.
Ohio State and its laudable crew travel to Duluth this week for the penultimate road trip of the regular season. The Bucks and Bulldogs face off in a Friday-Saturday series. Both games are scheduled for 4pm ET starts.
- In case you haven't noticed, every single one of the women on that list of Buckeye honorees is slated to return next season.
- The Buckeye women (17-5-4, 10-2-4-3 WCHA) move up to No. 5 in both polls this week. They are also fifth in the PairWise rankings.
- Other ranked WCHA teams include No. 1 Wisconsin and No. 7 Minnesota. Bemidji State is receiving votes in the USCHO poll.
- The Buckeye men (15-5-4, 8-5-1-0 B1G) stand pat at No. 6 in both polls as well as the PairWise rankings.
- The Big Ten is sliding a bit overall but still places six of its seven teams in the national polls: No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 12/14 Penn State, No. 14/13 Minnesota, No. 17 Michigan, and No. 18 Wisconsin.
- Speaking of the Wolverines, they visit Columbus this week, so it’s a good thing the Buck Attack is back.
