The Ohio State women’s ice hockey team wraps up its season this weekend playing the Bemidji State Beavers tomorrow and Saturday before heading into the WCHA Championship.
The Buckeyes (10-20-2, 7-13-2 WCHA), will host the Beavers (9-15-6, 5-12-5 WCHA) at OSU Ice Rink to determine its position going into the championship March 6-8. The Buckeyes hold a one-point lead over Bemidji State and need to take only one of the two games to retain its spot in the postseason.
The fourth and fifth best teams face off in the first round of the championship, so the Buckeyes will need to use its games this weekend to get a good feel for what the Beavers are capable of before squaring off again next week.
“Hopefully we’ll pick on their weaknesses this weekend and beat them in the playoffs,” said forward Jeni Creary.
OSU is coming off a couple of losses to No. 7 Wisconsin on Friday and Saturday at home. The Buckeyes were embarrassed Friday, when the Badgers put up a seven spot while the home team only managed one. OSU rebounded on Saturday, losing by the narrow margin of 2-1.
“On Saturday we played really well,” said OSU defenseman Emily Hudak. “We showed we could bounce back from night to night. Right now, we’re pretty upbeat and feeding off each other.”
The Buckeyes will be looking for a much improved performance this weekend and want to put some goals on the board early.
“We’ve been in so many one-goal games,” said OSU coach Jackie Barto. “We counted 14 and have only won four of them. It would be nice if we could get a couple early and not feel the pressure of being in a one-goal game.”
Barto said they would be facing a good Beaver goalie, and they would try to move her around and get some traffic in front so she does not see the original shot clearly.
“We’ve got to get the pucks to the net, and it will help if we got some people screening and some deflections in front,” Creary said. “It’s better if the goalie can’t see a clear shot through, so hopefully it will help us get some more goals.”
Bemidji State also lost its games last weekend to No. 2 Minnesota-Duluth. Minnesota blanked the Beavers 10-0 in the first of a two-game set. The Beavers didn’t fair any better in the second game, losing 11-3.
The Beavers have four players on its squad that have 65-plus shots this season, so defense will be a key for the Buckeyes this weekend.
“Their top line is dangerous whenever they are on the ice,” Barto said. “Amber Fryklund is a kid that can create on her own so we’re going to have to know when she is on the ice.”
“It starts with our defense. If we commit to playing strong team defense and limit the shots against Bemidji in the next three games and take advantage of the opportunities we have, I think we will be happy with the outcome. Our commitment to defense is going to be really important.”
The Buckeyes tied its last match against the Beavers 1-1 and lost the following game 4-2.
But OSU is not about to let Bemidji State get the best of it this time.
“I remember it being a really physical game,” Hudak said. “They are a team that is going to come out with fire under their belts. We are pretty equal teams. (But) we’ve played pretty well at the end of the season. We’ve shown other teams that we come to play and knocked off some big teams in the playoffs.”
The games against Bemidji State will be highlighted by the honoring of the seniors Saturday. The seniors being recognized have been a part of the team since the inaugural 1999-2000 season.
“This is the last weekend at home for our seniors,” Barto said. “It’s a big weekend to thank them for everything that they have done for Ohio State and the commitment they have made to the program.”
