Women’s Hockey: No. 2 Ohio State sweeps series against Minnesota State

Katy Popovitch
Sun, 06 Feb 2022 00:22:05 +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 celebrates a goal during the Ohio State-Lindenwood game Jan. 8. Ohio State won 10-0. Credit: Gabe Haferman | Assistant Photo Editor

Playing on the road didn’t rattle the Buckeyes as their first road trip of 2022 resulted in a series sweep.?

No. 2 Ohio State (21-5-0) defeated Minnesota State (12-15-0) in a 5-0 shutout Friday and 7-1 Saturday in Mankato, Minnesota.

After recording three points in Saturday’s game, senior defender Sophie Jaques now holds the Ohio State record for most points in a single season by a defender with 47. The record was previously held by Olympic gold medalist Tessa Bonhomme.

Friday

The scoring started off with Ohio State senior forward Paetyn Levis notching her 15th goal of the season, resulting in the Buckeyes leading at the end of the first period 1-0.?

Ohio State graduate forward Liz Schepers passed the puck to Levis, who broke away with it and scored a short-handed goal in the second period to make it a 2-0 game.

Head coach Nadine Muzerall said the Buckeyes applied a lot of pressure and were aggressive on their penalty kill.

“We’ve been practicing a lot on both of our special teams,” Muzerall said. “It’s just nice that they are tightening up things that we were falling a little short on earlier in the year and now approaching it at a really good time to make those corrections and be rewarded.”

Ohio State sophomore forward Jenna Buglioni capitalized on a power play in the second period for her 13th score of the season, giving Ohio State a three-goal lead to enter the second intermission.

Ohio State senior forward Gabby Rosenthal picked up a rebound and scored top-shelf on Minnesota State junior goaltender Calla Frank in the third period.

Buglioni scored her second power play goal of the game in the third period with assists from Schepers and Levis. Levis and Schepers ended the night with four and three points, respectively.?

Ohio State sophomore goaltender Amanda Thiele earned her third career shutout, saving 23 shots.?

Muzerall said Thiele has come up big for the Buckeyes while Ohio State senior goaltender Andrea Braendli is competing at the 2022 Winter Olympics.

“She’s really earned her minutes,” Muzerall said. “She’s made a couple of really important saves today but at key moments, too. She’s just so composed. It looks effortless.”

Muzerall said the Mavericks played hard and she respects the way they play.

“They play tough and relentless and they keep coming at you,” Muzerall said. “They challenged us and elevated our game.”

Saturday

Ohio State graduate forward Lexi Templeman found the back of the net in the first period, putting the Buckeyes on the board 1-0. Buglioni scored the Buckeyes’ second goal of the game with less than thirty seconds left in the first period.

Schepers found Rosenthal 4:13 into the second period, giving the Buckeyes a three-goal lead. The Mavericks took advantage of a power play as senior defender Jessica Kondas scored Minnesota State’s first goal of the series, ending the second period 3-1 Buckeyes.

The Buckeyes scored three even-strength goals in the third period from Ohio State senior defender Madison Bizal, Schepers and Gardiner. Rosenthal once again got the puck past Frank on a power play with less than two minutes left in the game, securing the Buckeyes with a 7-1 win.

Thiele saved 18 shots and recorded a 0.947 save percentage.

The Buckeyes will return to the ice and play their rescheduled game against St. Cloud State in St. Cloud, Minnesota, Tuesday at 3 p.m. The Buckeyes and Huskies originally planned to face-off Jan. 14-15, but the series was postponed due to COVID concerns within St. Cloud’s program.