Ohio State wrapped up its 2014-15 regular season schedule this afternoon win a loss to No. 9 Minnesota-Duluth. The game began like many other battles between these two squads. The opening period was closely contested. The teams skated through 17 scoreless minutes before the Buckeye offense broke through.
| goals by period | 1 | 2 | 3 | final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ohio State | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| No. 9 Minnesota-Duluth | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
Danielle Gagne potted her ninth goal of the season, giving the Scarlet and Gray the early lead. Claudia Kepler extended it to 2-0 midway through the second period with her team leading twelfth tally. It looked as though the Bucks would take that two goal lead to the final intermission, but Duluth’s Katerina Mrazova struck with just 17 seconds remaining in the middle frame.
Jessica Healey drew UMD even with Ohio State at the 8:59 mark of the final period. The Bulldogs pulled ahead four minutes later with a goal from Brianna Gillanders. OSU made a last ditch extra attacker effort for the tying goal, but Duluth’s Zoe Hickel put home an empty netter to seal the Buckeyes’ fate.
| pd | time | buckeye goal scorer (assists) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 17:45 | Danielle Gagne (Taylor Kuehl, Kari Schmitt) |
| 2 | 13:04 | Claudia Kepler (Lauren Spring, Danielle Gagne) |
Ohio State finishes its season with a 17-14-3 overall record. The lady Bucks went 12-13-3-1 in conference play. They end the year in sixth place in the WCHA. OSU will hit the road for the opening round of the conference tournament to face current No. 7 North Dakota.
The best-of-three series is set to begin on Friday. The match up presents a big challenge for the Buckeyes. The ladies are 0-3-1 against UND this season. NoDak posted back-to-back shutouts against the Scarlet and Gray in the teams' last meeting. However, OSU has been within a goal of North Dakota in every game they've played this season. They aren't far off and playoff adrenaline may give the Bucks the extra boost they need to advance.
