Women’s Hockey: No. 5 Ohio State splits weekend series with Minnesota State

Andrew Joseph
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 02:24:53 +0000
Ice Hockey, News, Sports, Women's hockey, Buckeyes, emma maltais, Grace Zarzecki, hockey, Jincy Dunne, Julianna Iafallo, Kassidy Sauve, Lauren Boyle, Liz Schepers, Maddy Field, Nadine Muzerall, ohio state, Ohio State women's ice hockey, ohio state women’s ice hockey schedule, ohio state women’s ice hockey score, rebecca freiburger, tatum skaggs, women's hockey, women's ice hockey

Ohio State junior forward Grace Zarzecki (7) battles for a puck with a South Korea player in the first period of their exhibition match the South Korean Olympic teama on Sept. 26 at the OSU Ice Rink in Columbus, Ohio. The Buckeyes prevailed 8-0. Credit: Jeff Helfrich | Lantern Reporter

The No. 5 Ohio State women’s hockey team (19-8-4, 12-5-4-3 WCHA) split a weekend series on the road against Minnesota State (5-23-1, 3-18-0-0 WCHA) on Friday and Saturday, dropping the opener 4-1 and closing the series with a 3-2 victory.

Game 1

The Buckeyes outshot the Mavericks in the series opener, but skated off the ice with a 4-1 loss.

The Buckeyes took 36 shots, though only one shot by junior forward Grace Zarzecki made it past Minnesota State sophomore goaltender Chloe Crosby. Ohio State freshman goaltender Amanda Zeglen ended her night with 16 saves, allowing four pucks to find the back of the net. Redshirt junior goalie Kassidy Sauve did not play in either game against Minnesota State.

Minnesota State scored two goals in the opening period. Senior forward Lindsey Coleman needed just 29 seconds to put the Mavericks up 1-0 with a goal. Senior forward Amanda Conway added her team’s second goal with 5:01 remaining in the first period.

Seven minutes into the second period, Zarzecki scored the Buckeyes’ only goal with assists from redshirt sophomore defender Jincy Dunne and freshman defender Lisa Bruno.

Coleman scored just one minute later to reclaim a two-goal lead and deflate Ohio State’s hopes of a victory.

Junior forward Rebekah Kolstad added a fourth goal with less than seven minutes remaining in the game to clinch a Maverick win.

Game 2

Ohio State bounced back from its loss Friday with a 3-2 victory against Minnesota State the next day.

Ohio State scored all three goals in the second and third periods of the game. Ohio State’s third and final goal of the night was scored by freshman forward Emma Maltais with 6:47 remaining in the game. The score, which was assisted by senior defender Dani Sadek, broke a 2-2 tie. The Buckeyes held off the Mavericks the remainder of the game to claim a bounce-back win.

Maltais’ game winner was made possible by junior forward Charly Dahlquist, who scored her seventh goal of the season 2:59 into the third period to tie the game at two. Prior to her goal, the Mavericks were threatening to pull off a second win in a row.

Kolstad ripped a shot past Zeglen with nine minutes remaining in the second period to give Minnesota State a 1-0 lead. The Buckeyes struck back, though, when sophomore forward Rebecca Freiburger responded with a goal less than three minutes later.

The Mavericks reclaimed their lead when freshman forward Tristen Traux scored a tie-breaking goal with less than two minutes remaining in the second period. Dahlquist and Maltais ensured a Buckeye victory to avoid a series sweep in the final period.

Ohio State head home for one final series of the year, hosting Bemidjii State on Friday and Saturday.