The women’s hockey Buckeyes skated into Wisconsin on Friday night looking to secure their conference standing. A big shootout win over the Badgers did the trick. The Scarlet and Gray locked up third place in the WCHA.
| Scoring by Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | OT | Final | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 10 Ohio State | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| No. 1 Wisconsin | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Freshman goaltender Andrea Braendli was the hero of the day for the Buckeyes. Wisconsin outshot Ohio State by a whopping 53-24 margin in the game. The indefatigable netminder had her hands full but performed brilliantly. Save No. 50 might have been her best of the night. She stoned the Badgers’ leading scorer, Annie Pankowski, on a breakaway. Braendli surrendered only one goal on the night and that came on a first period penalty kill.
BRAENDLI WITH THE SAVE!! She STONEWALLS Pankowski to keep @OhioStateWHKY alive late!#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/L5KttlnHOJ
— Ohio State on BTN (@OhioStateOnBTN) February 23, 2019
Braendli’s effort might have gone for naught but OSU managed to rally in the third period. Despite being outshot 20-8 in the frame, the Buckeyes outscored Wisconsin 1-0 and tied the game. Leading lamplighter Tatum Skaggs put herself in the right place at the right time to tip home a feed from Emma Maltais.
HOW?? Tatum Skaggs redirects one to pull @OhioStateWHKY even with the Badgers late!!#GoBucks#BTNStandout x @AutoOwnersIns pic.twitter.com/MfXBe50yV1
— Ohio State on BTN (@OhioStateOnBTN) February 23, 2019
The overtime session passed in scoreless fashion. The game went into the books as an official tie. The teams then proceeded to a shootout to determine the winner of the conference bonus point. Maltais was first out of the gate for the Buckeyes and uncorked some slick wizardry for a 1-0 shootout lead.
That was lead enough for Braendli. The rookie goalie was phenomenal in shutting down attempts by Pankowski, Sophie Shirley, and Abby Roque. The toe stop she made on Shirley is just bonkers.
Nothing like a good old fashioned shootout. @OhioStateWHKY secures two points tonight behind Braendli.
— Ohio State on BTN (@OhioStateOnBTN) February 23, 2019
BTN x @AutoOwnersIns pic.twitter.com/DUSvvGBBL7
With tonight’s result, Ohio State goes to 18-12-1 on the season and 12-10-1-1 in the WCHA. Two conference points bring the Bucks’ season total to 38. That number, along with Bemidji State’s loss to Minnesota, means OSU clinches the No. 3 seed for the conference tourney. The Bucks will host No. 6 (either St. Cloud or Minnesota State) in the opening round best-of-three series.
- Andrea Braendli’s 52 saves are a new career high.
- Emma Maltais (5), Charly Dahlquist (4), Lisa Bruno (4), and Jincy Dunne (4) combined to record 17 of the Bucks’ 24 shots.
- Ohio State went 0-for-2 on the power play while Wisconsin was 1-for-3.
