No. 5 Ohio State skated into the WCHA semifinals with high hopes of making the program's second-ever trip to the conference championship game. The Buckeyes battled bad luck and a desperate Minnesota team all night. In the end, they came up short by the slimmest of margins. They will have to wait for tomorrow night's NCAA tournament selection show to learn whether their season lives on.
| Scoring by Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 7 Minnesota | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| No. 5 Ohio State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The Buckeyes controlled much of the first period. The game had a good flow and few stoppages. Ohio State’s speedy skaters benefitted and the Bucks generated several top quality chances.
Tatum Skaggs had two breakaway chances in the frame. She rang the iron once and just missed wide on the second opportunity. Julianna Iafallo nearly jammed the puck between Sidney Peters and the post but the Gopher goalie slammed the door in the nick of time.
The Buckeyes’ best scoring opportunity was their first. A minute and a half into the contest, a 2-on-1 with Maddy Field and Liz Schepers ended with the puck across the goal line. Unfortunately, it was preceded by Schepers and ruled no goal by the officials.
Officially we're still scoreless, but @LizSchepers definitely found the back of the net #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/2YY6cPVsEf
— Ohio State Women's Hockey (@OhioState_WHKY) March 3, 2018
Minnesota attempted half as many shots in the first period as Ohio State (21-10) but the Gophers did get a few good looks. The OSU defense was brilliant in support of rookie goalie Amanda Zeglen, who continued to patrol the net in the absence of injured starter Kassidy Sauve. Lisa Bruno made the most notable play for the Buckeye blueliners when her timely block foiled a Minnesota 2-on-1. The pucks that did get through to Zeglen were emphatically rejected by the freshman netminder.
The Gophers claimed the upper hand in the second period. An innocent-looking shot from WCHA scoring champ Grace Zumwinkle, covered by a Buckeye defender and not from a particularly good angle, somehow slipped by Zeglen. The unexpected goal energized Minnesota. The Gophers effectively slowed the Buckeyes down for the rest of the period. They also cranked up their attack on Zeglen.
Minnesota had four or five odd man chances in the middle frame. Ohio State’s defenders demonstrated some top-notch shot blocking to minimize the pressure on their goaltender. Jincy Dunne and Dani Sadek were especially impressive in breaking up what would have been quality Gopher chances.
And Zeglen recovered well from the early goal. She grew stronger as the game wore on. By the end of the frame, she boasted some truly stellar saves, including a huge stop on Zumwinkle with three minutes to go in the second period.
The third period passed in tense fashion as the Buckeyes staged a comeback attempt. They swarmed the Gopher net repeatedly over the final 10 minutes of the game but could not get the equalizer. Schepers had probably the best opportunity, wide open on Peters’ blocker side. Unfortunately, she couldn’t get her stick on the puck for the redirect and it sailed wide of the net.
Minnesota chipped in an empty net goal to take the semifinal victory by a final score of 2-0. This wasn’t a bad effort for the Buckeyes but it wasn’t a winning one and, ultimately, that's all that counts in the postseason. With UConn’s upset of Boston College today and the possibility of the Gophers knocking off the Badgers in tomorrow’s WCHA championship, Ohio State’s NCAA berth is on thin ice.
Fortunately for the Bucks, Colgate came up with a last-second goal to oust Cornell from the ECAC tournament. Big Red won't surpass OSU. Clarkson and Northeastern are your other finalists in the ECAC and Hockey East, respectively. Mercyhurst claimed an autobid along with the CHA championship today in a 5-3 win over Robert Morris.
Outside of Minnesota vs Wisconsin, none of tomorrow’s championship games make any significant difference to Ohio State. The Bucks need a Badger win and good news during the Selection Show which airs Sunday night on NCAA.com at 9pm ET.
- The Buckeyes outshot the Gophers 33-27 in today's conference semifinal.
- Charly Dahlquist and Maddy Field (7) and Emma Maltais (6) led the OSU shooters.
- Ohio State's defenders blocked 14 shots in the game. Minnesota's foiled 18.
- Jincy Dunne, Dani Sadek, and Lauren Boyle were responsible for the majority of the Bucks blocks. They thwarted four each.
