Boy, oh, boy. You guys are not going to be excited to hear from me tonight. There is no good news from the ice. First up, we have a failed rally for the No. 4 Buckeye women.
| Scoring by Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 4 Ohio State | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| No. 10 St. Lawrence | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
I’ve got to be honest, I didn’t expect special teams to be front and center in a series where both teams had power play conversion rates below 10% and penalty killing percentages above 94%. Yet that was exactly the story of the first period. St. Lawrence pulled ahead of Ohio State, 2-0, with a pair of man-advantage goals.
That was twice as many power play goals as the Buckeyes allowed in the first eight games of the season. Undaunted, Ohio State kept plugging away. Midway through the second period the Bucks began demolition of the deficit with a load of Jincy Dunne-o-mite.
Dunne cut the Saints’ lead in half with an unassisted tally. It was the first goal of the year for the Bucks’ hard-working defensive leader. Top Buckeye sniper Tatum Skaggs leveled the score with a quick strike, just 30 seconds into the third period.
But the Saints continued to play against type. St. Lawrence rallied for a rare third goal at the 11:56 mark of the third period. Natalie Wozney beat Andrea Braendli with what would turn out to be the game winner. The Bucks skated with the extra attacker for the final minute and a half but could not find the equalizer.
Special teams were a story for Ohio State throughout this game. They didn’t surrender a power play goal past the opening period, but they spent an awful lot of time on the penalty kill. This included three consecutive kills after the Buckeyes tied the game in the third period.
In spite of the extended shorthanded time, OSU pressed hard for the game-winner. The Buckeyes outshot the Saints 14-5 in the final frame. The Scarlet and Gray led in shot attempts for the period, 29-12.
The Bucks take another shot at the Saints tomorrow afternoon. The puck is scheduled to drop at 3pm ET. Fans with an ESPN+ subscription can stream the game live online.
