Hello, hockey fans. The first half of the season is winding to a close. The men’s team wrapped up its pre-holiday schedule against Minnesota. However the Ohio State women still have a bit of unfinished business. They host Minnesota-Duluth this week in a Friday-Saturday series.
The Buckeyes come into the tilt off a bye week. Prior to that they made a trip out East from which they returned with mixed results. OSU defeated Vermont handily. The team came up short the following afternoon against Boston University though a Scarlet and Gray rally made the third period interesting. Now Ohio State puts on a bow on the first half by hosting Duluth, the nearest thing the team has to a rival in the WCHA.
| game info | friday | saturday |
|---|---|---|
| Opening Faceoff | 7pm ET | 4pm ET |
| Radio | N/A | N/A |
| Television | N/A | N/A |
| Online | Buckeye Vision ($) | Buckeye Vision ($) |
After a rough start to the season UMD is beginning to find its groove under first year head coach Maura Crowell. The Bulldogs are 3-2-1-0 in their last six games. The record includes wins over current No. 8 Harvard and No. 9 North Dakota.
That UMD is very good defensively and anchored by great goaltending is likely no surprise. This is the usual scouting report on Duluth. What is unexpected is that the Bulldogs have two top notch players between the pipes this year rather than one.
Buckeye fans are familiar with senior goalie Kayla Black (2.49/.912). A perennially tough customer, she earned career shutout number 20 last week against St. Cloud State. Black is joined in goal this season by freshman Madison Rooney (2.57/.909), who appears poised to take up where Black leaves off. (And that's if she doesn't outright take over the starting job.) It was Rooney manning the UMD net during the team’s upsets of Harvard and NoDak.
| team stats | Minnesota-duluth | ohio state |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Record | 7-10-1 | 6-10-0 |
| National Polls | Receiving Votes | N/A |
| Avg. Goals Scored | 2.22 | 2.38 |
| Avg Goals Allowed | 2.67 | 4.00 |
| Points Leader | Jr. Ashleigh Brykaliuk (7-10--17) | Sr. Kendall Curtis (9-5--14) |
| Top Goaltender | Sr. Kayla Black (2.49/.912) | So. Alex LaMere (3.28/.890) |
Duluth is not as reliable offensively, but the Bulldogs are getting the job done. They are led by their upperclassmen. Juniors Ashleigh Brykaliuk and Lara Stalder along with senior Michela Cava have combined for 10 goals and 10 assists over the last six games.
Recent success aside, Ohio State doesn’t give up anything to UMD in the goal scoring department. The Buckeye scorers are just as sporadically prolific. Neither squad is lighting up special teams. On paper the only real edge in this series belongs to the Duluth defense.
The Bulldogs are gritty, experienced group that’s riding a hot streak. They’ll be tough to beat. The Bucks could really use a sweep but a split would be a good outcome. Wrangling at least one win out of the series would keep OSU in touch with the WCHA pack and end the first half on a positive note.
Did you know?
- Bulldog defenseman Jessica Healey is the sister of Buckeye defenseman Josh Healey.
- OSU coach Jenny Potter is a former Minnesota-Duluth star.
| rk | wcha standings | w | l | t | sow | pts | this week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wisconsin | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | at St. Cloud (non-conference) |
| 3 | Minnesota | 11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 33 | at North Dakota |
| 5 | Bemidji State | 9 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 28 | Bye |
| 9 | North Dakota | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 24 | vs Wisconsin |
| St. Cloud State | 4 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 16 | vs Minnesota (non-conference) | |
| RV | Minnesota-Duluth | 4 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 13 | at Ohio State |
| Ohio State | 3 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 9 | vs Minnesota-Duluth | |
| Minnesota State | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Bye |
