Ohio State then-redshirt sophomore defender Jincy Dunne (33) attempts to stop a fast break in the first period of the game against Minnesota on Jan. 19. Ohio State won 3-2. Credit: Jack Westerheide | Managing Editor for Design
Jincy Dunne was ready to burst onto the scene as a freshman for the Ohio State women’s hockey team.
At just 16 years old, the defenseman made the final round of cuts for the 2014 U.S. Winter Olympic team, barely missing out on the squad. A year later, she scored the game-winning goal to capture a gold medal for the U.S. women’s national ice hockey team in the 2015 International Ice Hockey Federation U18 Women’s World Championship.
Ohio State head coach Nadine Muzerall, who was an assistant coach at Minnesota at the time, said Dunne was on every college program’s radar.
“Everybody wanted her. She was the youngest ever centralized in the Olympics among adult women that are in their 30s,” Muzerall said.
But Dunne’s trip to collegiate ice hit a roadblock the summer before her first season was slated to start. A head injury forced her to sit out the 2015-16 campaign and left her unable to travel with the Buckeyes.
It was far from the last obstacle Dunne would overcome at Ohio State. Dunne survived the yearlong setback and remained in the program through head coaching turnover and NCAA violations only to have her best chance at a national title taken away in her final year.
But along the tumultuous journey, she may have cemented a legacy as one of the greatest players in the program’s history.
“Pressure is a privilege, depending on how you look at it,” Dunne said. “I don’t ever want to be a person that crumbles under pressure. Resilience is something I try to take to all aspects of life. Yeah, there’s pressure, but it all depends on how you look at it.”
Ohio State then-redshirt junior defenseman Jincy Dunne (33) brings the puck down-rink in the game against Bemidgi State on Feb 8. Ohio State lost 2-3. Credit: Cori Wade | For The Lantern
Despite Muzerall’s assertion that Dunne had the pick of the litter for collegiate destinations, the top-tier prospect landed on an Ohio State program with a mediocre 17-16-3 record in 2014-15.
“During the recruiting process, people encourage you to think about: If you never really played a day here, would you like the school? There’s an aura of excellence here, and you notice it when you’re walking on campus, and I definitely wanted to be a part of that,” Dunne said.
With Muzerall still a year away from taking over the program, Dunne was greeted by new head coach Jenny Potter and the opportunity to unite with her sister Jessica on the team.
But the head injury, a concussion, sidelined her for the entire 2015-16 season.
For most 18-year-olds, adjusting to college is hard enough, but Dunne had to battle both physical and mental obstacles far from her hometown of O’Fallon, Missouri, as a freshman.
“To deal with that when you’re away from home, starting college and school, it was definitely a bigger challenge I faced here,” Dunne said. “Injuries are something that most people struggle with and it took a year to get back into things. After being out for a year, it’s hard once you do something again.”
Dunne said her faith, family, team and love for the university aided her in the first steps back on the ice.
“Jincy has a mental side of being tough. She’s very articulate,” Muzerall said. “She’s hard on herself and she knows when she has made that error and very rarely would she go back and make the same error twice.”
Muzerall and Dunne would reunite the following year — albeit under less-than-ideal circumstances. Muzerall was named the third Ohio State women’s hockey head coach in three years after Potter was fired amid NCAA recruiting violations.
While Muzerall packed her bags for Ohio, Dunne tightened her skates for the start of the 2016-17 season.
“She came here and I’m just happy she stayed. After her redshirt year and how difficult that could’ve been, she could have left,” Muzerall said. “I didn’t get her in Minnesota, but I got round two to coach her at Ohio State and I’m very fortunate to have gotten that.”
Dunne suited up for her first game as a Buckeye Sept. 30, 2016, helping lead the team to a 4-1 victory against Rensselaer as her sister assisted her first career goal.
Dunne quickly blossomed as a leader, earning an alternate captain spot as a redshirt freshman before earning a co-captain title in her redshirt junior and senior years.
She was named the Western Collegiate Hockey Association Defensive Player of the Year each of her final two seasons — an award only one other Ohio State player has received in the program’s history. She captured first team All-American honors both seasons, as well.
“Jincy has the best vision and hockey IQ I’ve coached, and I’ve coached a lot of Olympians,” Muzerall said. “She sees the ice in slow motion and can foresee what the next two or three plays are.”
Dunne’s vision is displayed in her passing. She ranks second in program history among defensemen for assists with 82 and No. 3 in points with 99.
In addition, Dunne’s leadership has left a strong impression on her teammates.
“Coming in freshman year, I played with her and learned a lot, like learning the systems, and she has an unbelievable skill level,” sophomore defenseman Sophie Jaques said. “It’s fun working with her and making stuff happen on the ice.”
Ohio State then-redshirt junior defensman Jincy Dunne (33) drives the puck down the ice in the game against Bemidgi State on Feb 8. Ohio State lost 3-2. Credit: Cori Wade | For The Lantern
Dunne’s poise helped lead this season’s Buckeyes to 24 victories and a .711 winning percentage, a far cry from the 14-18-5 record Ohio State posted in Muzerall’s first season.
The Buckeyes captured their first WCHA Championship, with Dunne named to the 2020 WCHA Final Faceoff All-Tournament team.
Ohio State’s upset win in the conference championship game against No. 2 Wisconsin secured an automatic bid to the NCAA quarterfinals and two weeks to prepare for the 2020 NCAA Women’s Ice Hockey Championship.
Just minutes before departing for Minneapolis, where the tournament was to be held, the NCAA canceled all remaining winter and spring athletic competition due to COVID-19.
“Finding out your season’s ending is hard, especially as a senior when you realize you’re done, but it’s almost crazy because it’s so far out of anyone’s control,” Dunne said. “It’s not a situation where we’ve lost and we’re done. It was every sport.”
Still, Dunne said her tenure has been one of her wildest dreams. It might have been cut short, but Dunne’s time on the ice for the Buckeyes was packed with more accomplishments than most others could claim in the span of two or three college careers.
