Bemidji State toppled No. 4 Ohio State in the first half of the teams’ WCHA series. There didn’t seem to be any good way to lead into that, so I figured we might as well rip the bandage right off. Great goaltending and opportunistic scoring brought BSU its first win of 2018-19.
| Scoring by Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 4 Ohio State | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Bemidji State | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
The Buckeyes outshot the Beavers 16-6 in the opening period, but few shots developed into anything you could call a dangerous attack. Bemidji State drew first blood. Lindsey Featherstone stuffed home a rebound at the 8:35 mark, giving BSU a 1-0 edge.
| Buckeye Goal Scorer (Assists) | Pd | Time |
|---|---|---|
| PP - Emma Maltais (Jincy Dunne, Maddy Field) | 3 | 5:28 |
The teams battled through 19 scoreless minutes in the second period. The Bucks got better looks at the net but still no goals. Then, with only 48 seconds left on the clock, Clair DeGeorge delivered a late dagger. She finished off a 2-on-1 to boost the Beavers’ lead to 2-0.
Ohio State worked hard to climb out of that two-goal hole in the third period. A power play early in the stanza opened the door for Emma Maltais to flex her scoring muscle. Her sixth tally of the season rang off the iron and in. It cut the Bucks’ deficit in half.
But, although the Bucks kept the pressure on to the buzzer, BSU goaltender Kerigan Dowhy withstood the late charge. In all she stopped 37 of Ohio State’s 38 shots on goal. 14 of those saves came in the third period. Bemidji collected its first win of the season. OSU dropped to 9-4-0 overall and 5-2-0-0 in the WCHA.
Nadine Muzerall wasn't thrilled about her team's overall game although she did note the Bucks' third period effort. "You can see how we played in the third. That's just the thing we're lacking right now is that consistency and that effort through 60 minutes. We saw it last weekend which was brilliant...but you can't play in this league in spurts of time. It has to be all the time. You can't have a shift off or you're going to lose. Bemidji proved that." See Muzerall's full postgame interview here.
It's impossible to spin this as a non-terrible loss for Ohio State. I hope to heck we can all forget this and I won’t be bringing it up at the end of the regular season when the Bucks finish two points back of Wisconsin or Minnesota.
The Scarlet and Gray take another crack at the Beavers tomorrow afternoon at 4pm ET. You can stream the game live via FloHockey.tv for a fee or tune into the Beaver Radio Network for an audio broadcast.
- Ohio State outshot Bemidji State 38-24 in today’s contest.
- Peyton Levis and Tatum Skaggs (five shots each) paced the Buckeye shooters.
- OSU went 1-for-3 on the power play and held BSU scoreless on its lone advantage.
- The Bucks blocked six shots today, led by Jincy Dunne’s two blocks.
