Head coach Nadine Muzerall gives instructions on the bench during Ohio State’s game against Minnesota Duluth Friday at the Ohio State Ice Rink. The 3-0 win gave Muzerall the most wins for a head coach in Ohio State women’s ice hockey history. Credit: Courtesy of Ohio State Athletics.
Head coach Nadine Muzerall passed former head coach Jackie Barto for the most wins in Ohio State history at the Ohio State Ice Rink Friday night.
The 3-0 win against No. 7 Minnesota Duluth (13-8-2, 10-7-0 WCHA) makes her 179-71-19 at the helm in Columbus, and she is responsible for 41.2% of Ohio State’s all-time wins.
“When you’re the winningest coach at the Ohio State — in whatever sport it is — that’s got a lot of pride in that,” Muzerall said. “Hopefully, I stay here for a while and the wins keep coming.”
No. 1 Ohio State (19-2-0, 16-1-0 WCHA) dominated possession in its third-straight ranked victory, outshooting the Bulldogs 38-14. Muzerall said the Buckeyes’ successes can be credited to their depth.
“They’re a similar style to us, we just again have more depth and speed,” Muzerall said. “We don’t change our game for anybody, and we can’t let them dictate how the pace is. They want to slow us down. We can’t allow that, and so when we start to break through the walls, I think that’s when we broke them apart.”
Senior goaltender Raygan Kirk posted her second shutout in three games, recording 14 saves. Kirk was named the Western Collegiate Hockey Association’s goaltender of the week Jan. 8, and has allowed one goal in her last 180 minutes of play.
“She’s very reliable, very steady, even how she comes out and plays the puck, there’s no hesitation,” Muzerall said. “She’s done a really good job of staying focused, being involved and making the right plays and making big saves. She, in the first period, made a couple big saves for us, because the game could have got tilted quickly.”
While Kirk kept the Bulldogs out of her net, Minnesota Duluth goaltender Hailey MacLeod made the Ohio State offense’s job difficult. Graduate forward Kenzie Hauswirth said MacLeod’s 35-save outing was a source of frustration for her team, but the Buckeyes knew if they kept shooting, goals would come.
“Coach kept saying to shoot high on the goalie because of how she played, and once we started to do that, then it started to click a lot more for us,” Hauswirth said. “A big thing for us is rebounds, and Duluth is a really good team at boxing out in front and picking up sticks, so being able to bear down in front, get some rebounds is huge for us.”
The Buckeyes’ first goal of the game came on a rebound, as graduate forward Kelsey King’s backhand shot during a net-front scrum with nine seconds left in the first period got Ohio State’s offense going.
After King’s opening goal, it took 17 more minutes to score again, as freshman forward Joy Dunne extended the lead with a forehand shot from the slot with just under three minutes remaining in the second period.
With under five minutes left in regulation, Hauswirth sealed the game with a goal assisted by King and sophomore forward Sloane Matthews. After scoring once in the Buckeyes’ first 18 games of the season, Hauswirth now has two goals in Ohio State’s last three games.
Ohio State stayed out of the penalty box for most of the game, with graduate defenseman Cayla Barnes committing the Buckeyes’ only penalty of the game in the first period. Muzerall was satisfied with her team’s discipline but is hoping to see an improvement in the power play in tomorrow’s game.
“Five-on-five, I think we’ll beat anybody in the country, but special teams is where it could hurt us,” Muzerall said. “Our power play had a lot of really good looks, we’ve just got to find ways to capitalize. We’ve got to score on our power play.”
The Buckeyes return to the ice to face Minnesota Duluth at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Ohio State Ice Rink.
