The Ohio State women’s hockey team gathers in a pregame huddle before losing its season opener, 2-1, to Minnesota Duluth Saturday afternoon. Credit: Courtesy of Ohio State Athletics
It would take a goal with just 23 seconds remaining to take down the defending national champions.
No. 1 Ohio State fell to No. 7 Minnesota Duluth Saturday, with a late goal by sophomore defender Ida Karlsson putting the Bulldogs up 2-1. This loss marks the Buckeyes’ first Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) game of the 2024-25 season.
Karlsson scored with 23 seconds left in the third period, receiving joint assists from fifth year forward Olivia Mobley and redshirt junior forward Mary Kate O’ Brien to give Minnesota Duluth the win.
Ohio State head coach Nadine Muzerall said that defending a national title is difficult because opponents will always give their very best, but also noted the Buckeyes have to be better.
“We have to make sure we bury the puck when necessary, we have to do better in the second period, we have to be aggressive in our neutral zone and not hesitate in areas that we were hesitating [in],” Muzerall said. “And if we’re going to control the game, 40 shots to 12, we better win the game.”
Ohio State delivered an early blow to Minnesota Duluth, with freshman forward Jordyn Petrie tallying the first Buckeye goal of the season and her first career goal just over a minute into the game.
Petrie’s goal was assisted by Buckeye captain graduate forward Jenna Buglioni.
“I mean, it’s a pretty cool moment whenever you have a freshman get their first goal of their collegiate career, so I’m glad that she was able to get that today,” said Buglioni. “And sometimes it can kind of be a monkey on the back, so [I’m] glad that she could get that goal for us.”
Petrie said getting her first goal as a Buckeye made for an exciting moment on the ice.
“I honestly didn’t know it went in, and then [Buglioni] came over to me and was like ’You scored, you scored,’ and they all jumped on me,” Petrie said. “It felt really great, and felt really good to go through the [high-five] line.”
At the end of the first period, the Buckeyes had outshot the Bulldogs 18 to two.
“Their goalie played fantastic as well, but some of the shots, I think, were poor choices, and we have to be better at what we do with the puck when you have 40 shots,” Muzerall said. “That first period is 18 shots to two, and it should have been 3-0.”
With just over a minute of play left in the second period, Bulldog graduate forward Olivia Wallin equalized off joint assists by Karlsson and graduate forward Clara Van Wieren.
The final period was rather quiet, until Karlsson netted the eventual game-winner in its final moments.
Bulgoni said she thinks better results will come as the Buckeyes consistently improve with playing their distinct brand of hockey.
“I think we just need to play our game; [at] some points of the game, we weren’t playing Buckeye hockey, and it showed,” Buglioni said. “So, if we stick to our game plan and do things how we’ve been preparing, I think we should get a good outcome [tomorrow].”
The Buckeyes will once again face off against Minnesota Duluth 1 p.m. Sunday at the Ohio State Ice Rink.
