It looked like the Ohio State women’s hockey team was well on its way to completing the double of winning the regular season and tournament title in the WCHA, but the Minnesota Golden Gophers had other plans.
The two did battle in the WCHA Final Faceoff final on Saturday and the Buckeyes came up on the short end of the hockey stick, losing by a score of 3-1 inside Ridder arena in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Ohio State had an issue getting the puck into the back of the net despite some significant pressure early on against the defense and goaltending of the Golden Gophers. As a result, the Buckeyes fell behind 2-0 before finally getting a tally with just under four minutes left in the second period to make it 2-1. Gabby Rosenthal hustled down the ice to put a rebound back to make things interesting.
P2| BUCKEYE GOAL! 🚨@gabbyrosenthal5 on the rebound to put the Buckeyes on the board at 16:02! #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/IsOR215PMw
— Ohio State Women's Hockey (@OhioStateWHKY) March 4, 2023
Minnesota would answer just 60 seconds later however and took a 3-1 lead into the last period.
Ohio State would sustain pressure multiple times in the third period but Minnesota continued to defend and dump, closing out the game and finishing as WCHA tournament champions.
The Buckeyes will now await their path in the upcoming NCAA Tournament Sunday when the pairings are announced. They will without a doubt be a No. 1 seed and start out their national title defense.
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