The Ohio State women’s hockey team celebrate a goal during the Ohio State-Minnesota game on Jan. 29. Ohio State lost the game 7-4. Credit: Christian Harsa | Lantern File Photo
The Buckeyes win Friday was filled with lots of goals and huge milestones.
No. 2 Ohio State shutout Bemidji State 7-0 at the OSU Ice Rink, making the Buckeyes’ record 5-0-0. The Buckeyes’ victory marked head coach Nadine Muzerall’s 100th career win.
Although Muzerall did not know about this milestone until a few hours before the puck drop, she said she is grateful and thanked her entire staff.
“It has been an honor coaching them,” Muzerall said. “They are great kids to work with and it is a great job.”
The Beavers headed to the box at 5:30 in the first period on an interference call. Graduate forward Liz Schepers, the captain of the Buckeyes, capitalized on the opportunity. Schepers shot the puck in to score her first goal of the season, making the game 1-0 Buckeyes.
The Buckeyes offense put pressure on the Beavers, ending the first period with 21 shots on goal, while the Beavers had just two.
Muzerall said she thought the Buckeyes did a great job in the first period, but there were areas for improvement.
“We were still a little too perimeter,” Muzerall said. “We were trying to encourage them to get inside.”
Shortly into the second period, the Buckeyes got back on the power play after another interference call. However, it was cut short as junior forward Jennifer Gardiner made a trip to the box on a tripping call.
“It was obviously a frustrating moment, taking a penalty on the power play,” Gardiner said. “But I am glad that everyone was able to kill it off and we were able to get back into our groove after that.”
The Buckeyes could not stop their trips to the box in the second period. Freshman forward Madisyn Wiebe went to the box on a checking penalty at 10:56 prompting Muzerall to call a timeout with 11:44 in the second period.
“We just looked sloppy,” Muzerall said. “We have to hold them accountable to be better than they were.”
Gardiner did not let her time in the box hold her game back and responded, as she scored two goals later in the period, at 13:15 and 15:16, to increase the Buckeyes lead to 3-0.
Muzerall said it was nice to see Gardiner and her teammates respond.
“I’m glad that they responded, it shows a lot about their character,” Muzerall said.
The Buckeyes hit the ice in the third period, and continued to score. Junior defenseman Lauren Bernard found the back of the net at 3:37, scoring her first goal as a Buckeye, and making the game 4-0.
Senior forward and assistant captain Gabby Rosenthal ended the night with a bang, scoring a natural hat trick. All of her goals were in the third period and her second goal was scored on the powerplay.
“I don’t think a lot of people understand how hard that is to accomplish,” Muzerall said. “I am very proud of Gabby and her teammates that are making her so successful.”
Rosenthal said that her goals were set up nicely by her teammates.
“We have such a great group of girls,” Rosenthal said. “It was awesome to do that for them.”
The Buckeyes will battle the Beavers again Saturday at the OSU Ice Rink at 3 p.m.
