Ladies and gentlemen of Puckeye nation, we have our first individual honor of the season. After back-to-back wins over Minnesota State, Ohio State freshman goaltender Andrea Braendli earned the WCHA’s Rookie of the Week distinction.
The Zurich, Switzerland native was rock solid throughout the series. She stopped 55 of the 56 shots she faced. This included every one of the Mavs’ 22 attempts in Friday’s contest. It was Braendli’s first shutout in just her second collegiate start.
She was arguably even more impressive on Saturday. A better effort by Minnesota State combined with some rough patches for OSU could have spelled disaster. (For instance, five Buckeye penalty kills in the second period alone.)
Instead, Braendli’s steady presence helped smooth out those difficult stretches for the Scarlet and Gray and kept the team in position for the overtime win. Through three starts this season, Braendli is 2-1-0 with a 1.64 GAA and .946 save percentage.
Miss any of this weekend's action? We've got you covered with the weekend recap! #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/SqRqOM3Yhf
— Ohio State Women's Hockey (@OhioStateWHKY) October 15, 2018
Other WCHA Players of the Week Powered by Goodwood Hockey are Minnesota’s Taylor Heise (Forward), Wisconsin’s Natalie Buchbinder (Defense), and Minnesota State’s Abigail Levy (Goalie). Buckeyes Emma Maltais (one goal, two assists) and Lisa Bruno (one goal, one assist, and four blocked shots) earned honorable mention for forward and defender of the week, respectively.
Finding a way to secure the series sweep allowed Breandli and the Buckeyes to jump Duluth in the national polls. The Bulldogs dropped to No. 5. The Bucks got the wins, and they move up to No. 4 in both the USA Today/USA Hockey and USCHO polls.
This week Ohio State (5-1-0) is on the road for a top-5 clash with No. 3 Minnesota. The battle begins on Friday night at 8pm ET. The series wraps up on Saturday at 4pm ET. As usual, we’ll preview the match-up for you on Friday afternoon and recap the action following the final horn.
