Braendli Stops Career High 44 Shots in Loss to Gophers

By Aubrey Nelson on October 19, 2018 at 10:56 pm
Ohio State women's hockey regroups after a tough loss at Minnesota.
Twitter/@OhioStateWHKY
2 Comments

No. 4 Ohio State skated into Ridder Arena tonight for a top-5 showdown with No. 3 Minnesota. For more than 30 minutes, neither side blinked. Eventually, despite the best efforts of Buckeye freshman goalie Andrea Braendli, the Gophers pulled away for the win. 

Scoring by Period 1 2 3 Final
No. 4 Ohio State 0 0 0 0
No. 3 Minnesota 0 1 2 3

Both teams hit the ice running. Each applied pressure early. Both Braendli and Minnesota netminder Alex Gulstene made some sharp saves to keep the game scoreless through the first period.

The Gophers began to assert themselves more forcefully as the game wore on. Minnesota outshot Ohio State 37-8 over the final two periods. Braendli was brilliant in net, turning aside multiple breakaway chances to keep the Bucks in the game. In all she made a career-high 44 saves.

The scoreless deadlock continued past the halfway mark of the game. But despite Braendli’s impressive efforts, Taylor Williamson broke through for the Gophers with eight minutes and change remaining in the second period. Catie Skaja tacked on a second Minnesota goal late in the third period. Williamson potted an empty netter to cap off a 3-0 Gopher win.

Ohio State was great early. The action went back and forth in the opening period. Shots were level at 10-10. The Bucks just weren’t able to sustain that early momentum. With essentially no offensive pressure in the final 40 minutes, the Buckeye defense got no relief and eventually started to crack.

You know, it says something about how far the program has come in the last few years that this loss is a disappointment. The Scarlet and Gray take another shot at the Gophers tomorrow afternoon. Game time is set for 4pm ET.

  • Minnesota outshot Ohio State 47-18 in the game.
  • Emma Maltais and Liz Schepers led the Buckeyes with four shots each.
  • OSU edged the Gophers 20-16 in blocked shots.
  • Charly Dahlquist took a whopping 25 of the Bucks’ 59 draws. She won 11 of them.
2 Comments
View 2 Comments