Sophomore forward Joy Dunne gets set on the ice during the No. 2 Buckeyes 5-4 overtime victory over St. Thomas Friday night at the OSU Ice Rink. Credit: Grace Hamor | Lantern Reporter
The Buckeyes were down two goals three different times Friday night.
However, Ohio State fought back to give itself a chance to win in overtime and did exactly that.
No. 2 Ohio State (21-6-3, 15-6-3 Western Collegiate Hockey Association) trailed behind St. Thomas (8-18-2, 5-16-1 WCHA) for all but 29 seconds of regulation before the Buckeyes forced overtime and escaped with a 5-4 win just a minute into extra time Friday at the OSU Ice Rink.
Despite the victory, Ohio State head coach Nadine Muzerall said she knows the team needs to get going earlier on in games moving forward.
“They worked hard in the third and they were rewarded for it, but we’ve got to own that sooner,” Muzerall said.
With less than two minutes left in the first period, St. Thomas defender Maddy Clough pushed past the Buckeye defense with a pass to forward Lauren Stenslie who put the Tommies ahead.
Less than two minutes later, Clough did it again — she punched in a power play goal to put St. Thomas up 2-0.
Desperate for momentum, the Buckeyes found their first goal of the game four minutes later with a shot straight down the middle from forward Jocelyn Amos, assisted by defender Sara Swiderski.
With five minutes before the second intermission, Tommie’s defender Rachel Golnitz drove down center ice to forward Madison Brown, who passed it between Buckeye defenders to forward Chloe Boreen. Boreen capitalized on the opportunity with a score to extend St. Thomas’ lead to 3-1.
The Buckeyes didn’t go away, though. Ohio State got one of its own less than two minutes into the third period as goaltender Genny Klein recorded her first career assist off a goal by defender Riley Brengman.
The Tommies recorded an insurance goal as Stenslie and forward Rylee Bartz cut past the Buckeye defense and found forward Keara Parker, who snuck the puck behind Klein for the goal to increase their lead back to two.
Ohio State battled back — again — thanks to a shorthanded goal by forward Jenna Buglioni with five minutes to play to cut its deficit to one.
As the game clock went under a minute, time was against them.
With 29 seconds left, Amos took a rebound and powered it into the back of the goal to tie the game at four. The goal was met with an ear-splitting applause from the Ohio State crowd, who immediately jumped to their feet.
Just over a minute into the overtime period, Ohio State completed its comeback.
On the power play, Dunne powered a one-timer into the back of the net to seal the deal for the Buckeyes 5-4.
“We knew we needed those conference points, and we just got the job done,” Klein said.
The Buckeyes will be back on the ice Saturday at 1 p.m. to host St. Thomas for the second game of the series.
