Women’s Hockey: No. 3 Ohio State loses 5-3 to No. 2 Minnesota, splits series

Katy Popovitch
Sun, 30 Jan 2022 01:45:55 +0000
Ice Hockey, Instagram Page, Sports, Women's hockey, Amanda Thiele, Andrea Braendli, Brooke Brink, Buckeyes, Clair DeGeorge, Emily Curlett, Eve Savander, Gabby Rosenthal, Hadley Hartmetz, hockey, Jamie Grinder, Jenna Buglioni, Jennifer Gardiner, Kenzie Hauswirth, Lauren Bernard, Lexi Templeman, Liz Schepers, Madison Bizal, Madisyn Wiebe, Nadine Muzerall, ohio state, Ohio State women's ice hockey, ohio state women’s ice hockey schedule, ohio state women’s ice hockey score, Paetyn Levis, Quinn Kuntz, Ramsey Parent, Raygan Kirk [and 6 more]

Ohio State senior forward Paetyn Levis (27) shoots and scores in the first period of the Buckeyes’ game against Minnesota Saturday at the Ohio State Ice Rink. Ohio State lost 5-3. Credit: Casey Smith | Assistant Lantern TV Sports Producer

After Friday’s thrilling overtime win, the Buckeyes were unable to claim another victory against the Golden Gophers.

No. 3 Ohio State (19-5-0) lost to No. 2 Minnesota (20-7-1), as the Buckeyes fell 5-3 Saturday at the Ohio State Ice Rink to split the series. Head coach Nadine Muzerall said the team will learn that it cannot only play 50 minutes of hockey against one of the best teams in the nation.

“You know you’re going to be getting everybody’s A game because everyone is after you as well,” Muzerall said. “But if you want to be No. 1 and you want to win a national championship, you have to play 60 minutes of hockey. You can’t take shifts off.”

The Buckeyes continued their momentum from Friday’s overtime into Saturday’s first period. Sophomore forward Jenna Buglioni passed the puck to senior forward Paetyn Levis who found the back of the net, making the score 1-0.?

The Gophers’ offense came into the second period on fire. Sophomore defender Maggie Nicholson started off the scoring for Minnesota, tallying her first goal of the season and tying the game 1-1.

Minnesota senior forward Taylor Heise scored two goals in the second period. Heise’s second goal of the game marked her third score of the series and her 20th of the season.

Minnesota junior defender Madeline Wethington was also able to get the puck past Ohio State sophomore goaltender Amanda Thiele. The second period ended with the Gophers leading 4-1.

Ohio State graduate forward Liz Schepers said when the team went to the locker room after the second period, they were determined to turn the game around.

“We came back in the locker room after the second and just said, ‘We deserve, to each other, to play better than that and give ourselves a chance in the last 20’,” Schepers said.

Ohio State senior defender Sophie Jaques shot the puck past Minnesota junior goaltender Makayla Pahl to put the Buckeyes back on the board 4-2 in the third period.?

Jaques said the team knew they could come back and score if they battled for it.

“We just focused on continuing to play our game and moving the puck to help get those goals started,” Jaques said.

After scoring Friday’s overtime game-winning goal, Schepers scored another essential goal for the Buckeyes, closing Ohio State’s deficit to 4-3. Jacques’ assist on the goal marked her third point of the game.

Muzerall said she respects the Buckeyes not quitting in the third period when they were down 4-1.

“I think it shows character that they did respond, scoring two big goals on a very big team,” Muzerall said.

Wethington was able to get an empty-net goal for the Gophers, securing a 5-3 win for Minnesota.?

The Buckeyes outshot the Gophers 35-28, but at the end of the game, they could not get the most goals in the back of the net.

Thiele stopped 23 shots and had a 0.852 save percentage Saturday.

Muzerall said the team needs to learn? to bear down defensively and get back to their systems.

“I thought people started running when we got scored on and kind of started panicking,” Muzerall said.?

Muzerall said there are a lot of positives to take away, but the loss still stings.

“It’s always tough to lose, but it’s anybody’s given day when you have two very talented teams going head to head,” Muzerall said.

Ohio State will face off with Minnesota State Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 3 p.m. in Mankato, Minnesota.