Gradueta forward Jennifer Gardiner carries the puck during Ohio State’s Feb. 16 win against St. Thomas. She scored the first and eight goals during the Buckeyes 8-0 WCHA quarterfinal win against Bemidji State. Credit: Caleb Blake | Photo Editor
The Buckeyes are headed to Minneapolis.
Ohio State (31-3, 36-2 WCHA) punched its ticket to the Western Collegiate Hockey Association tournament semifinal with an 8-0 win against Bemidji State (4-30, 3-24-2 WCHA) at the Ohio State Ice Rink Saturday. The Buckeyes swept the Beavers in the WCHA quarterfinals after winning 10-1 Friday night, setting up a semifinal matchup against No. 8 Minnesota Duluth on Friday.
“I think playoffs kind of just gives you that little extra oomph to take care of the play and backcheck a little bit harder because there’s a lot on the line,” senior forward Jennifer Gardiner said. “It should be like that every game, but that’s just how playoff hockey is, so I think there was a little bit of added effort from our whole group.”
In last season’s quarterfinal series, Ohio State swept the Beavers with 4-1 and 2-1 wins. After winning 10-1 on Friday and 8-0 on Saturday, head coach Nadine Muzerall said she was impressed with the outcome this season.
“You just never know when it’s playoff hockey,” Muzerall said. “Anything can go. I think [the Beavers] were doing everything that was necessary to put up a good fight. I just think it was very impressive what our team did today. It’s our job as coaches to prepare them for the playoffs. You’re wiping the slate clean, and it’s 0-0, and they took that seriously.”
For the second straight game, Ohio State recorded a season-high 62 shots on goal. The Buckeyes also limited Bemidji State’s offense on Saturday, allowing nine shots on goal during the shutout.
“We controlled the neutral zone very well,” Muzerall said. “We pushed up, we took away space and we had good back pressure. It’s very difficult to generate anything if you can control the neutral zone.”
The Buckeyes started out hot in the first period on Saturday. Four minutes into the contest, the Buckeyes led 2-0 with goals from Gardiner and senior defenseman Lauren Bernard.
Gardiner said executing the small details allowed the Buckeyes to get on the scoreboard early and often.
“I think we just limited the turnovers,” Gardiner said. “That was one thing that we talked about yesterday, just playing simple and getting pucks in deep and working from low to high, and that obviously showed with some of the goals that we scored today.”
In the second period, two Buckeye freshmen — Joy Dunne and Jordan Baxter — scored, in addition to sophomore forward Sloane Matthews. Including Friday night’s game, freshmen have accounted for five of Ohio State’s 18 goals in the Bemidji State series.
“I don’t think us as a freshmen group are thinking about what individual impact we have, but yeah, it is pretty cool to have an impact on the team as good as this one,” Baxter said.
Senior goaltender Raygan Kirk started each of the Buckeyes’ quarterfinal games against the Beavers. She recorded 21 combined saves on the weekend and earned her seventh shutout of the season Saturday.
Muzerall said Kirk’s consistency throughout the year led to her getting the nod in the postseason.
“There’s tough competition, especially between [Amanda] and Kirk, and that’s what makes each of them tougher and stronger,” Muzerall said. “Kirk was very steady this year, and we spoke as a staff and we decided to give her the push.”
The Buckeyes’ upcoming semifinal matchup will be against the lowest remaining seed in the conference at 2 p.m. on Friday, streaming live on Big Ten Plus.
