BOOM
2025 cornerback Jordyn Woods flips from Cincinnati and commits to Ohio State.
The historic season of the 2017-18 women’s hockey Buckeyes continues. It was a near thing, requiring the selection committee to override the almighty computer rankings, but the official word came down a few minutes ago. Ohio State is headed for the program’s first-ever NCAA tournament appearance.
| 2018 NCAA Tournament First Round |
|---|
| Mercyhurst vs. No. 1 Clarkson |
| Ohio State vs. No. 4 Boston College |
| Northeastern vs. No. 3 Colgate |
| Minnesota vs. No. 2 Wisconsin |
In great position for an at-large berth just three weeks ago, the Bucks stumbled down the stretch. They battled inconsistency and an injury to starting goaltender Kassidy Sauve but rallied behind rookie back up Amanda Zeglen. OSU advanced as far as the conference semifinals before being ousted by Minnesota in a tightly contested game.
The Gophers went on to defeat Wisconsin in the WCHA final, claiming an NCAA berth with the champion’s autobid. Further upsets in conference tournaments around the nation had the bubble-riding Bucks holding their breath up until tonight’s selection show. One by one unexpected tourney champs ate up autobids and pushed Ohio State closer to the cutoff.
When the final horn sounded on the conference finals, the outlook seemed bleak for the Bucks. According to the computer rankings, D-II Saint Anselm (newly eligible for inclusion in the big dance) was the final at-large entry in the eight-team field. Ohio State would be the first team out.
But fortunately for OSU, humanity vetoed the machine. The selection committee exercised its right to evaluate the two teams’ “full body of work” before deciding which one would be issued an NCAA invite. That ruling came down in favor of the Scarlet and Gray. The Buckeyes’ 10-4-1 record against ranked competition won out over the Hawks’ total lack of games against ranked competition.
For the first time in program history...
— Ohio State Women's Hockey (@OhioState_WHKY) March 5, 2018
Were in.#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/g1L1ib6Off
The committee also shuffled the first round matchups to reduce overall travel as much as possible. In a straight rankings-based bracket Ohio State would have played No. 3 Colgate in the first round. Instead, the Bucks (23-10-4, 14-6-4-3 WCHA) will schlep to No. 4 Boston College.
The Eagles went 30-4-3 in the regular season and were the regular season champs of Hockey East. Ohio State and Boston College square off in a single-elimination quarterfinal match on Saturday, March 10 at 1pm ET. We’ll have a full game preview for you, as usual, on Friday afternoon.
