The No. 1 Ohio State women’s hockey team defeated St. Thomas 5-0 Saturday in Columbus. Credit: Zachary Rilley | Photo Editor
Senior defenseman Teagan Grant saw the opportunity to score and fired a top-shelf shot to earn her first collegiate goal on senior day, guiding the No. 1 Buckeye women’s ice hockey team to a 5-0 shutout Saturday against St. Thomas.
Saturday’s victory was preceded by a pregame ceremony honoring all seven graduating seniors and one sixth-year, a celebration that set the tone for the remainder of the day. The win concluded the final home series of the regular season with a complete weekend sweep of the Tommies (8-22-1, 3-21-1 Western Collegiate Hockey Association).
“Hockey is the longest continuous sport in NCAA, and it can be a grind. By the time you get to your senior night, you’ve already been together every day for six months,” head coach Nadine Muzerall said. “The fact that they still cheer and genuinely care for one another, and the success, I think shows a lot about who we are as a program.”
The Buckeyes (26-3-2, 21-3-1 WCHA) showed up early on, with graduate forward Paetyn Levis securing the first goal of the game on a power play, her 21st this season, at just 3:53 in the opening period.
Almost seven minutes later, graduate forward Gabby Rosenthal guided the puck past St. Thomas senior goaltender Alexa Dobchuck to earn her 19th goal of the season, putting Ohio State at a two-score advantage heading into the second period.
The Buckeyes struck again for a three-goal lead after senior forward Jennifer Gardiner lit the lamp under four minutes into the second frame. Gardiner’s 18th goal of the season was assisted by graduate defenseman Sophie Jaques and junior forward Jenna Buglioni.
Slightly under six minutes later, junior forward Makenna Webster earned another goal for Ohio State, her 14th of the season.
The four-score lead was uninterrupted by St. Thomas, as the Tommies found themselves unable to push past senior goaltender Quinn Kuntz along with the strong Buckeye defense, only recording three shots on goal for the period.
Kuntz put up a career high of 17 saves for her fifth Buckeye win and third career shutout.
“I think I just really wanted to get the shutout today and really wanted to stay locked in, so it’s definitely been something I’ve been working on,” Kuntz said.
The final Buckeye to get on the scoreboard was Grant, her first-career goal, resulting in an eruption of celebrations from teammates and spectators with just about six minutes of play left.
“It’s definitely really special. To have your teammates celebrate like that for you is something you can’t even describe, but it’s awesome,” Grant said. “One person’s success is everybody’s success.”
The Buckeyes outshot the Tommies 51-17 by the end of the final period, and Grant’s goal sealed senior day with a 5-0 victory.
Muzerall emphasized the added sentiment of senior night, describing the performance as emotional.
“It does showcase our talent and our ability to get inside and create scoring opportunities,” Muzerall said. “I’d like to give them a lot of credit for their mental side of not getting distracted by all the noise on the outside.”
Following this weekend’s shutout, Ohio State’s regular season will culminate with one final away series against Wisconsin next weekend. The Buckeyes and Badgers will meet Saturday beginning at 4 p.m.
