After a 3-3 tie on Friday, the Ohio State women’s hockey team picked up its play on Saturday in a 6-2 dismantling of visiting Bemidji State at the OSU Ice Rink.
“We generated some opportunities, put the puck in the net, and I thought we went to the net hard,” OSU women’s coach Jackie Barto said.
This was the final game at home for the OSU seniors. This class was the first recruited in the short history of the women’s program.
“It was an awesome way to go out here at home,” goaltender April Stojak said. “We had a big win against a team we’re going to play in North Dakota Thursday.”
North Dakota is the site of the first round of the WCHA Final Five Tournament, where OSU will play Bemidji State. This will be the fifth meeting of the two teams this season — the series is knotted at 1-1-2.
The game started poorly for OSU as Bemidji jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, but OSU quickly tied the game as forward Jana Harrigan broke free and scored a goal.
Forward Jeni Creary then scored two consecutive goals to give the Buckeyes a 3-1 lead in the second period.
The game continued to go the Buckeyes’ way, with center Jennifer Desson tallying a short-handed goal, making the score 4-1.
Desson scored two more times in the third to give her the first hat trick of her career.
“Basically it was hard work and continuing to go after the puck,” Desson said.
Bemidji was able to get another goal late, but OSU had built an insurmountable lead.
The win clinched OSU the No. 4 spot in the tournament as the Buckeyes finished the season 11-20-3. Despite the lower seed and under .500 record, the Buckeyes are confident going into the tournament.
“Were going to win the tournament,” Stojak said. “This is the first time we’ve sent a senior class through and there’s no doubt we’re going to come out with a win.”
