Jenna Buglioni celebrates her second-period goal against Bemidji State Friday night. She followed up the Friday goal with a hat trick in Ohio State’s 9-1 win Saturday. Credit: Reid Murray | Design Editor
In her 119th game at Ohio State, senior forward Jenna Buglioni scored her first collegiate hat trick.
Buglioni’s three scores added to a nine-goal effort that gave the No. 1 Buckeyes (24-2-0, 21-1-0 WCHA) their fourth win of the season against Bemidji State (4-22-2, 3-18-1 WCHA) at the Ohio State Ice Rink Saturday.
“It was good to get that hat trick in,” Buglioni said. “For us, it’s not really about who’s getting the goals as long as we’re getting them in and winning the game, but it did feel nice.”
Buglioni scored the Buckeyes’ first two goals of the 9-1 victory. Her first goal was a netfront redirection on a shot from senior defenseman Riley Brengman with under three minutes left in the first period.
Eight minutes into the second period, Buglinoni capitalized on the penalty kill, pouncing on a Cayla Barnes pass from the red line. Barnes’ pass didn’t initially find Buglioni — instead bouncing off the boards behind the net and allowing the senior forward to score a top-shelf putback.
“Barnes started skating up with the puck, and I think she read that defenseman was tight on me, and we kind of made eye contact,” Buglioni said. “I was like, ‘I think she’s going to try to pull it off the end wall,’ and she did and it bounced perfectly. I was just trying to elevate it and luckily that puck went in. We kind of needed that jump at that moment.”
Associate head coach Peter Elander applauded Barnes’ alertness to find the right passing lane, saying she showed “high hockey IQ.”
Ohio State’s shorthanded success continued five and a half minutes later when graduate forward Hannah Bilka made a defensive-zone interception before finding freshman forward Jocelyn Amos on a breakaway that propelled the Buckeyes to a 4-0 lead.
Buglioni said even when killing penalties, the Buckeyes take an aggressive defensive approach.
“We were practicing a lot and taking pride in that penalty kill,” Buglioni said. “Even though we’re a man down, we have to be just as aggressive as we are a five-on-five.”
Four Buckeye goals and one Beaver score later, Buglioni completed her hat trick, as an offensive zone pass intended for Brengman was redirected by a Bemidji State defender into the net. Buglioni’s third goal was the Buckeyes’ ninth and final of the game.
Senior goaltender Amanda Thiele made 14 saves and allowed one goal in over 52 minutes on the ice. Shortly after Buglioni’s third-period score, the Buckeyes made a change in net, giving sophomore goaltender Lexington Secreto her first collegiate action. Secreto played for seven minutes but did not face a shot on goal.
“We see how hard she works every day, and it’s a tough position to be in, being a fourth-string goalie,” Buglinoi said. “Seeing how our bench erupted when she got out there, I think that that just shows our culture and shows how much we care for one another. Little things like that, when we can get up in the game and get players that opportunity. It’s super important.”
Ohio State combined for 20 goals on the weekend, scoring 11 on Friday and 9 on Saturday. After a successful weekend against Bemidji State, Elander said the Buckeyes need to remain focused as they gear up for their final three series of the season.
“We take every practice super seriously and we have a really, really good team, but [Minnesota State] Mankato is a tough game on the road, and they played much better this year than they did last year,” Elander said. “We have two pretty tough road games, and then St. Thomas here is always a trap game.”
