No. 4 Ohio State and No. 3 Minnesota resumed their battle at Ridder Arena this evening. This time around the Buckeyes prevailed thanks to superior special teams execution and another titanic effort by freshman goalie Andrea Braendli.
| Scoring by Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 4 Ohio State | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| No. 3 Minnesota | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
The Buckeyes began this game behind the eight ball. The team got hit with a bench minor before the puck even dropped. It seems that having black numbers on black jerseys is an NCAA violation. You'd think someone (besides the officials) would have caught that at some point before it put the Bucks shorthanded off the opening faceoff.
Head coach Nadine Muzerall said her team wasn’t bothered by the pregame foul. “Honestly, it just motivated us. And I’d prefer to be Darth Vader than Luke Skywalker any day."
| Buckeye Goal Scorers (Assists) | Pd | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Sophie Jaques (unassisted) | 1 | 5:15 |
| PP - Emma Maltais (Jincy Dunne) | 2 | 12:12 |
| Maddy Field (Emma Maltais, Jincy DUnne) | 3 | 4:44 |
But the Scarlet and Gray made the best of the hand they were dealt. They killed off the penalty. Then, with their first shot of the game, they claimed a 1-0 lead. Freshman defender Sophie Jaques potted the goal. It was her first as a Buckeye.
Wave after wave of Gophers came at Braendli, looking to even the score. The rookie netminder thwarted nearly every attempt. Only one got past her. Nicole Schammel slipped her defender. Partially screened by bodies in front, she got in position to snap off a quick shot and leveled the game at 1-1.
The Gophers continued to test Braendli in the second period. The Buckeye goalie answered the bell with 16 big saves. She held the Gophers off the board in the stanza and set the stage for a Buckeye rally.
Midway through the second period Ohio State went on the power play. Jincy Dunne teed up OSU’s leading scorer, Emma Maltais. The sophomore sniper promptly rang up her third goal and eleventh point of the season.
The Bucks added to their lead early in the third period. Maddy Field lit up Gopher netminder Sydney Scobee for a third Buckeye goal. Maltais and Dunne both picked up helpers on the play.
Lead in hand, Ohio State put the pedal down. The Scarlet and Gray peppered Scobee with 13 shots in the final frame. A power play midway through the period threatened to ignite a Minnesota rally but the Buckeye penalty killers came up big.
With a little over two minutes to play a miscommunication by the OSU defense opened the door for Taylor Williamson to cut OSU’s lead in half. But Braendli slammed the door on the rest of the Gophers’ attempts. The Buckeyes claimed a huge 3-2 victory.
The win brings No. 4 Ohio State to 6-2-0 on the season and 3-1-0-0 in the WCHA. It keeps the Bucks in the mix at the top of the conference. It also further cements the Buckeyes’ place among college hockey’s serious contenders.
"We just had to build off of yesterday, " said Muzerall after the game, "We weren't executing a lot of things that we were needing to do and I think in the second and third period we started to play more like our Buckeye hockey."
Next up for the Bucks is a trip to Canton, New York to face St. Lawrence. The Saints just dropped No. 1 Clarkson. They’ll be looking to add OSU to their list of top-5 victims. Games are scheduled for Friday at 6pm ET and Saturday at 3pm ET.
- Minnesota topped Ohio State in total shots, 42-27.
- Emma Maltais led the way for the Bucks with eight shots.
- Andrea Braendli stopped 40 shots in her fourth career victory.
- Special teams were fantastic today. OSU went 1-for-2 on the power play and killed off all four Gopher advantages.
