No. 10/11 Ohio State opened its Big Ten hockey slate at No. 11/9 Minnesota on Friday night. The Buckeyes posted three goals against one of the conference’s best goaltenders. At the end of the day, though, they couldn’t keep the puck out of their own net and suffered their second loss of the season.
| scoring by period | 1 | 2 | 3 | final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 10/11 Ohio State | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| No. 11/9 Minnesota | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
The Bucks controlled the opening ten minutes of the game. They outshot the Gophers 6-1. Many of those shots came were accompanied by a net front presence. OSU kept goalie Eric Schierhorn deep in his net, but the Minnesota goalie kept the visitors off the scoreboard.
| pd | time | buckeye goal scorers (assists) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6:31 | Kevin Miller (unassisted) |
| 2 | 5:27 | Miguel Fidler (Drew Brevig, Dave Gust) |
| 2 | 14:15 | PP - Dave Gust (Dakota Joshua, Josh Healey) |
While Schierhorn was successful in thwarting Ohio State’s attacks, he did a terrible job of defending against his own teammates. When the Gopher goalie failed to nab a Kevin Miller shot, Minnesota’s Ryan Lindgren picked the puck up and chucked it into the net for a Buckeye goal.
Around the midpoint of the period the Gophers woke up. They made their first extended foray into Ohio State’s zone and put their second shot on goal. The home team’s momentum continued to build. Buckeye goalie Matt Tomkins had to be sharp to keep his net clean.
At the 15:49 mark of the period Minnesota evened the score. OSU’s skaters got hung up in the offensive zone on a turnover. Ryan Collins scored on the ensuing rush.
The Gophers edged ahead late in the final minute of the period with a shorthanded tally. The goal was a particularly ugly one for the Buckeyes. They were outhustled on the play and Tomkins was flat beat five-hole.
The wheels threatened to come off completely for Ohio State in the second period. Goals from Leon Bristedt and Tyler Sheehy put Minnesota ahead 4-1 and sent Tomkins to the bench. He was replaced by Christian Frey.
Schierhorn continued to stand tall in net. Over the next 20 minutes he stopped point blank attempts by John Wiitala, Luke Stork, and Nick Schilkey (twice). But the Buckeyes began to chip away at the Gophers’ lead.
A hard charging Dave Gust opened up space for Miguel Fidler’s first goal of the season. Then long range passes from Josh Healey and Dakota Joshua set up an easy power play deposit for Gust. By the second intermission break, Ohio State trailed just 4-3.
The Buckeyes spent an unhelpful portion of the third period on special teams. They were unable to find the back of the net on an abbreviated advantage, though they did succeed in keeping the Gopher power play off the board in its 7:27 of power play time.
Sheehy put the nail in Ohio State’s coffin with a fifth Minnesota goal at 11:47 of the final frame. The score was another bad exchange for the Bucks. The OSU defenders offered about as much resistance to Sheehy and company as a wet tissue. Minnesota claimed the victory by a final score of 5-3.
For my money Schierhorn was the player of the game for the Gophers. Ohio State had about six great opportunities that he singlehandly shut down. For the Buckeyes, Gust was a catalyst for the team’s near comeback and Frey performed well in relief of Tomkins.
The battle continues for Ohio State and Minnesota on Saturday night at 8pm ET. The game airs live on Fox Sports North and Sports Time Ohio. An online stream is available with a BTN2Go subscription.
- Other Big Ten results: Penn State rolled to a sweep of Michigan. The No. 6/7 Nittany Lions posted a 5-1 win over the No. 20 Wolverines. In non-conference action Wisconsin rallied to tie Nebraska-Omaha, 3-3.
Women’s Hockey Ties No. 9 North Dakota
It looks like the bye week was good for Ohio State. The Buckeye women returned to action tonight with a tie and shootout loss to No. 9 North Dakota. The result brings the Scarlet and Gray to 7-8-2 on the season.
| scoring by period | 1 | 2 | 3 | final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 9 North Dakota | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Ohio State | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
The teams skated to a scoreless first period. OSU carried a power play over to begin the second. Leading scorer Maddy Field cashed in quickly with assists from Julianna Iafallo and Dani Sadek. The Buckeyes held on to their lead until the 8:01 mark of the final frame when Ryleigh Houston drew the Fighting Hawks even with Ohio State.
| pd | time | buckeye goal scorer (assists) |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 0:35 | Maddy Field (Julianna Iafallo, Dani Sadek) |
North Dakota kept the momentum going and outshot the Bucks 17-5 in the third period. However, Kassidy Sauve thwarted the visitors at every turn. She would finish the game with 42 saves.
OSU had a late power play opportunity and a golden chance to end the game in regulation but couldn’t get any rubber past UND goalie Lexie Shaw. Neither side budged in the overtime session. The game ended in a 1-1 tie.
A shootout ensued for the extra conference point which UND won. This is the second time this season the Buckeyes have taken a top-10 team to overtime. Earlier in the year they also pushed No. 1 Wisconsin to a shootout. Overall, head coach Nadine Muzerall was satisfied with her players, saying that "they played sensational hockey for about 50 minutes. They also played well in the overtime period; I’m pleased with our effort this evening.”
Of note, Ohio State’s penalty killers were a perfect 2-for-2 in tonight’s contest. They have now gone 11 games without allowing a man-advantage goal. The Buckeyes and Fighting Hawks tangle again tomorrow afternoon. The opening faceoff is scheduled for 3pm ET.
