Senior forward Lauren Bernard skates with the puck during Ohio State’s 4-1 senior day win against St. Thomas Saturday. Bernard was honored as the WCHA’s Defender of the Week after scoring in the win. Credit: Aiden Ridgway | Lantern Photographer
In recent years, the Ohio State women’s ice hockey games against Wisconsin have decided conference and national championships.
This week, the rivalry is back for another No. 1 versus No. 2 showdown.
Here’s what’s happening around the rink this week.
A new chapter in a budding rivalry
Many Ohio State fans look forward to seeing the Buckeyes play Michigan all season long. However, in women’s ice hockey — a sport Michigan doesn’t sponsor — Ohio State looks to Wisconsin as a rival.
“It’s a hatred, quite honestly,” graduate forward and captain Jennifer Gardiner said. “Off the ice, there’s a lot of friendships, but on the ice, there’s probably going to be a fight every game and just a ton of battles.”
Unlike Ohio State’s rivalry with Michigan in other sports, the rivalry with the Badgers has nothing to do with geography. The two teams are located a near eight-hour drive apart, but their high-stakes matchups during Ohio State’s rise to powerhouse status have been enough to create tension between the two sides.
“Years back, before coach [Nadine] Muz[erall] started with the program, Minnesota and Wisconsin would easily take Ohio State every weekend,” Gardiner said. “When we started taking games from them, I think people kind of saw Ohio State’s on the map. That’s when we started turning heads and creating those rivalries with Minnesota and Wisconsin, and they started taking these games more seriously.”
A major turning point in Ohio State’s status in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association was when the Buckeyes defeated Wisconsin in the 2020 conference tournament championship. Since that conference tournament victory, the Buckeyes have won another conference tournament, two regular season conference titles and a national championship in 2022.
Even as the Buckeyes have risen, Ohio State has finished just one season with a winning record against Wisconsin under head coach Nadine Muzerall. That season — 2022-23 — ended with the Badgers defeating the Buckeyes to win the national championship.
“We’re trying not to look too much into the past and just be in the present, but it for sure stings,” senior forward Jenna Buglinoi said. “Anytime we play them, they’re just that little bit extra on the line.”
The stakes of this weekend’s Ohio State-Wisconsin series are diminished by Ohio State already having the WCHA regular season title and conference No. 1 seed locked away. However, Buglioni said any time these two foes meet — especially as the country’s No. 1 and No. 2 teams — it “feels like a playoff game.”
“It’s a hostile environment, but it’s fun,” Buglioni said. “When you score in LaBahn, their crowd gets quiet, so we hope that we can do that quickly and take that energy out of there.”
Juggernauts clash in Madison
While Ohio State has already clinched the regular season WCHA title, graduate forward Olivia Mobley said the No. 1 Buckeyes (28-2-0, 25-1-0 WCHA) still have something to play for this weekend against the No. 2 Badgers (28-4-0, 22-4-0 WCHA).
“Going up against a deep team will be huge to have that extra confidence going into playoffs,” Mobley said. “These games keep you honest. You can’t get away with bad habits. I’d much rather go out against a team that’s four lines deep than a team that has one line.”
The last time Wisconsin and Ohio State met, it was also a top-two series, but the Badgers were the favorites. Then-No. 2 Ohio State defeated then-No. 1 Wisconsin at home 3-0 on Oct. 17, 2023, and 2-1 in overtime on Oct. 18, 2023.
Gardiner said the intensity of the top-two stakes kept the October series on the low-scoring end.
“When you play in those tight games against the top teams you know, it’s kind of that mindset to sell out and block those extra shots,” Gardiner said. “When it’s a top matchup, you sell out a little bit more and goaltending is always on.”
The Badgers enter the series on a 15-game win streak, including a weekend sweep against then-No. 5 Minnesota on Friday and Saturday.
Sophomore forward Kirsten Simms leads Wisconsin in scoring with an average of 2 points per game and 27 goals on the season. Simms is one of six Badgers with more points scored than games played this season, and Mobley said shutting down the high-powered Wisconsin offense has been a major focus in practice this week.
“We’re making sure we’re sharp in all areas of the ice, versus those where we know we can score,” Mobley said. “We know we can bury the puck, but we’re cleaning up on our defensive zone and our positioning without the puck to make sure we’re strong all over the ice.”
Bernard tabbed Defender of the Week
Senior defenseman Lauren Bernard was named WCHA Defender of the Week after scoring the game-winning goal in Ohio State’s 4-1 senior day win against St. Thomas on Saturday.
The senior day goal was one of seven goals scored this season on the penalty kill, tying the program record for shorthanded goals in a season.
In addition to the game-winner on Saturday, she tallied three assists in Ohio State’s 12-1 Friday night victory.
19 Buckeyes named WCHA scholar-athletes
Nineteen Ohio State players were named WCHA scholar-athletes, the conference announced Tuesday.
Scholar-athlete status is awarded to players with an academic status of sophomore or older academic standing and a GPA of 3.5 or higher in the last two semesters. Ohio State’s 19 scholar-athletes were the most of any team in the league.
All 19 nonfreshmen on the Buckeyes’ roster made the all-academic team, including Cayla Barnes, Bernard, Hannah Bilka, Riley Brengman, Buglioni, Gardiner, Hadley Hartmetz, Kenzie Hauswirth, Kelsey King, Raygan Kirk, Quinn Kuntz, Stephanie Markowski, Sloane Matthews, Mobley, Emma Peschel, Lexington Secreto, Amanda Thiele, Makenna Webster and Kiara Zanon.
