#2/4 Minnesota Golden Gophers (19-6-1, 14-5-1-1 WCHA)
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#3/2 Ohio State Buckeyes (18-4-0, 14-4-0-0 WCHA)
Friday, January 28 at 6:00 p.m. ET / 5:00 p.m. CT
Saturday, January 29 at 3:00 p.m. ET / 2:00 p.m. CT
OSU Ice Rink, Columbus, OH
Coming out of one big rivalry series, the Gopher Women's Hockey team heads out on the road for another, traveling to Columbus, OH, for a top-four battle against the Ohio State Buckeyes. The action begins Friday, January 28, at 6 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. CT and continues on Saturday, January 29, at 3 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. CT at the OSU Ice Rink.
Last time against Ohio State – The opening of the 25th season of Minnesota Women's Hockey saw the Gophers on the wrong end of a series sweep, falling to the Buckeyes 4-2 and 4-1 at Ridder Arena. Peyton Hemp tallied her first goal in the Maroon & Gold to give the Gophers the lead 5:34 into the season opener. However, Clair DeGeorge knotted the score for OSU on a power play later in the first period, and Jenna Buglioni & DeGeorge lit the lamp in the second stanza for a 3-1 advantage. Taylor Heise pulled the Gophers within one late, scoring with an extra attacker with 2:03 to play, but Paetyn Levis tallied into an empty net for the Buckeyes 51 seconds later. Emily Brown assisted on both Gopher goals. In the rematch, Ohio State built a 3-0 lead after two periods, with Sophie Jaques converting twice on power plays and Jennifer Gardiner also scoring. Amy Potomak netted a between-the-legs breakaway goal in the third to cut the Minnesota defecit to 3-1, but Buglioni responded with an insurance goal for OSU. Jaques was named WCHA Defender of the Week, while OSU's Andrea Braendli earned the WCHA Goaltender of the Week honor after stopping 62 of 65 shots. Lauren Bench made 22 saves for Minnesota on Friday night, while Skylar Vetter stopped 27 shots in her collegiate debut on Saturday.
Analyzing the Buckeyes – With the WCHA switching to points percentage to set the conference standings, a split this past weekend (more on that momentarily) put Ohio State in sole possession of first place in the league. The Buckeyes are 18-4-0 overall and 14-4-0 in WCHA conference play, with their losses coming at the hands of Wisconsin (2) and Minnesota Duluth (2).
A defender – senior Sophie Jaques (#18) – leads Ohio State in all three scoring categories, recording 15 goals and 24 assists for 39 points, claiming five WCHA Defender of the Week and two Defender of the Month awards in the process. On the forward lines, junior Jennifer Gardiner (#12; 12g, 22a) & sophomore Jenna Buglioni (#10; 12g, 20a) are second and third in total scoring with 34 and 32 points, respectively, while seniors Paetyn Levis (#27) & Gabby Rosenthal (#15) have each netted 13 goals.
Senior Andrea Braendli (#20) has seen the most action between the pipes for the Buckeyes, going 9-3-0 with a one shutout, .924 save percentage and 1.84 goals-against average; however, OSU is currently playing without her as she attends the Olympics on Team Switzerland. Sophomore Amanda Thiele (#30) has appeared in 10 games, posting a 6-1-0 record with 2 shutouts, a 1.06 GAA and .944 SV%. Junior Raygan Kirk (#1) is 3-0-0, recording a 1.50 GAA and .852 SV%, and fellow junior Quinn Kuntz (#35) stopped all 7 shots she faced in 30 minutes of action across two relief appearances.
Last action for Ohio State – While the Buckeyes were without their primary netminder due to the Olympics, the same held true for the visiting UMD Bulldogs. Instead, Amanda Thiele (OSU) and Jojo Chobak (UMD) started both games, with the first contest being a goaltender battle. Thiele and Chobak each made 27 saves as the game remained scoreless into its final minute, but Kylie Hanley lit the lamp with 32 seconds remaining for a 1-0 Minnesota Duluth victory. The Buckeyes took a 2-0 first-period lead in the rematch on goals by Jenna Buglioni & Sophie Jaques. OSU's Clair DeGeorge and UMD's McKenzie Hewett scored third-period goals 14 seconds apart, but Thiele made another 18 saves for a 3-1 Ohio State win and a series split. Chobak stopped 38 shots in the loss.
