Women’s Hockey Set to Face No. 5/6 Bemidji State

Hello again, puck heads. Welcome to your weekly preview. Men’s hockey has a bye this week. The lady Bucks are in town though. They’re set to take on WCHA foe Bemidji State today and tomorrow at the OSU Ice Rink. 

The Ohio State women did not have any games scheduled last week. However they did take the ice during intermission of the men’s game on Friday, dazzling the crowd with a showcase of their shootout skills. As impressive as those skills were hopefully they won’t be necessary against the Beavers. 

The Bucks’ results to date have been decisively split. They are winless with a goal differential per game of -7 versus the nation’s top two teams. Against less obviously skilled competition they’re undefeated and +3. So OSU is not as good as Minnesota or Wisconsin and better than Lindenwood and Minnesota State. Those games didn’t tell us anything we didn’t already suspect.

We will get some new information this week. Though it doesn’t enjoy perennially elite status, Bemidji State is a solid citizen within the conference. The Beavers are firmly in the middle tier of teams (i.e. the ones that aren’t postseason cannon fodder for the Gophers and Badgers). They also return a veteran squad which may have the chops to top their mid-tier brethren and make some postseason noise.

If BSU is headed for a breakout year it’s because of its defense. The Beavers rank sixth nationally, giving up a paltry 1.42 goals per game. Some of that is due to an experienced blue line. A lot of it comes down to the lady in net. Brittni Mowat is always a formidable goaltender. She seems to be off to another great start this season with three shutouts to her name and stats that rank among the NCAA’s best. 

To pick up any points this week the Buckeyes must capitalize on their power plays and any odd man chances. There probably won’t be many. They also must keep a lid on the Beaver offense. They might get a couple pucks past Mowat but they aren’t likely to light her up, at least not in consecutive games.

It’s a tall order. Bemidji is a good team made up of players who have been playing with each other for a long time. But the Bucks got a confidence boost by sweeping the Mavericks their last time out. They also traditionally match up well against BSU.

Points would be good. Wins would be better. One way or the other after this series we’ll have a much better sense of where Ohio State is at in its development and whether we can expect the lady Bucks to be competitive with the middle of the WCHA pack.

Noteworthy

• Bemidji State will be without leading goal scorer Stephanie Anderson (5-1--6) when it visits Columbus as she is skating for Team USA at the Four Nations Cup in Sweden.
• Former Buckeyes Natalie Spooner (Canada) and Annie Svedin (Sweden) are also competing in the tournament.
• Here's the lowdown on deals and promotions for this series.