The women’s hockey Bucks kept rolling on Saturday afternoon with a 4-1 win over No. 7/8 Minnesota-Duluth. As in Friday’s contest, the Bulldogs got the drop on the Buckeyes early. Sydney Brodt netted the first goal of the game 3:50 into the first period. But, as in Friday’s contest, OSU reeled off a string of unanswered goals to claim victory.
| Scoring by Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 7/8 Minnesota-Duluth | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| No. 7 Ohio State | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
The first Buckeye goal came off the stick of Tatum Skaggs. And the third one. And the fourth one. The outpouring was the second collegiate hat trick for Skaggs. Ohio State’s leading lamp lighter now owns 10 goals on the season and 30 in her career.
| Buckeye Goal Scorers (Assists) | Pd | Time |
|---|---|---|
| PP - Tatum Skaggs (Emma Maltais, Jincy Dunne) | 1 | 12:31 |
| Sara Saekkinen (Maddy Field, Madison Bizal) | 1 | 13:47 |
| Tatum Skaggs (Jacyn Reeves) | 3 | 7:06 |
| EN - Tatum Skaggs (Jincy Dunne) | 3 | 18:42 |
Emma Maltais assisted on Skagg's first goal. The helper brought Maltais' season point total to 24. She is now tied with Clarkson's Elizabeth Giguere for the national lead in points.
Freshman Sara Saekkinen scored the tilt’s official game-winner. She followed hard on the heels of Skaggs’ opening tally with a goal of her own. She is the first of the Buckeye rookies to notch a second career goal.
OSU’s special teams were masterful in the win. The Bucks went a perfect 1-for-1 on the power play. The penalty killers were also flawless, thwarting all six of UMD’s advantages. Ohio State now stands at 11-5-0 overall and 7-3-0-0 in the WCHA.
Nadine Muzerall could not have been more pleased with her team's effort. "We’ve lost five games and I would say one was a loss but the other four were on us. I just challenged them about if you’re gonna lose, you’re gonna battle and lose to a better team, not because we quit."
The Bucks rose to that challenge with a spectacular body of work against Duluth. "I thought they were stellar all 200 feet," Muzerall said after Saturday's win. "We struggled last weekend...so we really got after it in practice, challenged them in the sense of being focused and playing with passion and they did just that."
- Ohio State edged Minnesota-Duluth in shots, 30-22.
- Tatum Skaggs, Emma Maltais, and Sophie Jaques led the Buckeyes with four shots each.
- Andrea Braendli made 21 saves in her eighth win of the season. It is the tenth time in her 13 outings that she has held her opponent to two or fewer goals.
- Tatum Skaggs (3-1--4), Maddy Field (2-1--3), Emma Maltais (1-2--3), Jincy Dunne (0-3--3), and Sara Saekkinen (1-1--2) all recorded multi-point series.
- Senior forward Charly Dahlquist (6-7--13) did not play in either game against Duluth, but rookie forward Gabby Rosenthal, last in action on Oct. 13, returned to the lineup this week.
