No. 1 Ohio State shakes hands with No. 2 Wisconsin after the 6-3 Badgers victory in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association Final Faceoff championship game at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis. Credit: Cameron Moone | Lantern Reporter
In the most important matchup of the season, No. 1 Ohio State women’s ice hockey couldn’t get the job done.
The Buckeyes fell to No. 2 Wisconsin 6-3 in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association Final Faceoff championship game on Friday at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis.
Ohio State has now lost back-to-back conference title tilts.
Wisconsin (33-5-0, 24-5-0 WCHA) shellshocked Ohio State (32-4-0, 26-3-0 WCHA) early on, sending in two goals from sophomore forward Kirsten Simms and sophomore forward Laila Edwards.
“We made a couple of bad errors and lost the wide man on odd-man rushes,” Ohio State head coach Nadine Muzerall said. “The shots were in our favor in time and zone but they scored when they needed to and capitalized what they needed to. That’s what is more important and we did not do that.”
Wisconsin only notched six shots on goal in the opening frame compared to Ohio State’s 10, yet was much more efficient with its looks.
“They pressure hard and we weren’t as composed as we were [Friday],” Ohio State senior defenseman Lauren Bernard said. “We kept forcing the puck up the wall when that’s where they wanted us to go. We kind of fed right into it.”
The Buckeyes responded at 1:17 of the second period with a score from freshman forward Jocelyn Amos to make it 2-1. Wisconsin held Ohio State scoreless for the remainder of the period and scored three goals themselves, including a short-handed and power-play score.
“We could’ve responded better but we can learn from this game,” Ohio State graduate forward Hannah Bilka said. “If we didn’t change what we did today, we will change it next time we play [Wisconsin].”
Wisconsin’s four-straight goals from the second into the third period did not result from any changed gameplan, Muzerall said.
“We had to make some key saves and we did not,” Muzerall said. “We had to make some key plays and we did not and [Wisconsin is] going to capitalize because they’re good.”
Bilka scored two third-period goals for Ohio State at 15:23 and 17:47, but it proved to be too little, too late for the Buckeyes who fell to Wisconsin for the second straight meeting.
Ohio State outshot Wisconsin 33-22 across the game but strong Badger goaltending ultimately proved to deter any Buckeye scoring opportunities.
Ohio State senior goaltender Raygan Kirk dropped just her second game of the season and allowed a season-high in goals, while Badger freshman netminder Ava McNaughton notched win number 18 on the season, saving 30 shots.
“At the end of the season, everyone is playing their strongest games,” Bilka said. “That’s one of the best teams we’ve seen this year but I also think we have more to give.”
Heading into NCAA tournament play, Muzerall said she hopes the loss will fuel her team in the pursuit of a title.
“I just hope it pisses off our team and then we try and go win a national championship,” Muzerall said.
Ohio State will await to know its seed in the NCAA tournament with seeding coming Sunday at noon. ESPNews will televise the selection process.
