Ohio State women’s hockey enjoys undefeated weekend at Minnesota State

Michelle McDonnell
Sun, 24 Jan 2016 02:32:31 +0000
Ice Hockey, Sports, Buckeyes, Claudia Kepler, Erin Langermeier, Julia McKinnon, Katie Matheny, Kendall Curtis, Minnesota State, ohio state, osu

OSU freshman forward Maddy Field (22) fights for the puck during a game against Minnesota State on Oct. 23 at the Schottenstein Center. OSU won 5-3.
Credit: Courtesy of OSU

The Ohio State women’s ice hockey team recorded a tie and win this weekend at Minnesota State, providing some temporary joy in its disappointing 2015-16 campaign.

On Friday, the Buckeyes and Mavericks ended regular time in a 3-3 tie and then the Buckeyes won a shootout 2-1. The next, the OSU offense exploded for eight goals, while only giving up three.

In the first game, the Buckeyes jumped out to a two-goal lead after the first period off of goals from senior forward Kendall Curtis and freshman forward Erin Langermeier, with Langermeier’s being the first of her collegiate career.

Minnesota State was able to cut the deficit in half in the second period with a goal from forward Emily Antony.

At 13:45 in the third period, Mavericks freshman Jordan McLaughlin knocked in a goal to tie the game. The Buckeyes answered with a goal from captain Melani Moylan to recapture the lead shortly after, but the Mavericks scored on a power play with 1:15 left to send it to overtime, where neither team was able to score.

In the shootout, Curtis found the net first for the Buckeyes. Mavericks defenseman Anna Keys scored on Buckeye goalkeeper Alex LaMere to notch the shootout at one goal apiece. Then, sophomore forward Julianna Iafallo scored to win the shootout for the Scarlet and Gray and grab an extra point.

On Saturday, the Buckeyes jumped out to a two-goal lead for the second day in a row. The goals for the Buckeyes were scored by junior forwards Claudia Kepler and Katie Matheny. Minnesota State followed that up with two goals of their own to tie the game. Antony and Katie Johnson were the first-period goal scorers for the Mavericks.

Matheny scored in the second period to once again give the Buckeyes the lead but the Mavericks’ Antony scored her second goal of the game and third in two days to tie the game at 3-3. Unlike Friday, however, the Buckeyes did not let the score remain that way.

OSU added two more goals in the second period. One came on a power play by Kepler and the other was a short-handed goal by senior forward Julia McKinnon.

In third period, the floodgates opened, as the Buckeyes scored three more times. McKinnon scored her second goal of the game off an assist from Iafallo 5:13 into the period. Curtis was able to add another goal for the Buckeyes three minutes later. Then Moylan scored the final goal with less than two minutes left in the game.

The eight goals scored on Saturday are the most by the team this season.

Kepler and McKinnon each tallied four points.

The Buckeyes have another road series on the agenda next weekend when head back to Minnesota to play Minnesota Duluth. The games are scheduled to start at 8:07 p.m. on Friday and 5:07 p.m. on Saturday.