Ohio State women’s ice hockey advances to WCHA Final Faceoff

On to the WCHA tournament semifinals for the OSU women’s ice hockey team. #GoBucks

The Ohio State women’s ice hockey team will be attempting to follow up its first-ever WCHA regular-season title with a tournament title after advancing to the WCHA Final Faceoff with a 2-1 win over Bemidji State Saturday at the OSU ice rink.

The best-of-three series didn’t need a third game after the Buckeyes took care of business Friday night in a 4-1 victory over Bemidji State. The win moves OSU’s record to an impressive 30-4-2 overall, and a 23-4-1 WCHA mark.

Here’s how the win unfolded on Saturday:

  • Freshman Sloane Matthews got the scoring started for the Buckeyes just 2:00 into the game by finding the back of the net. It was a one-timer by Matthews off of a feed from Kenzie Hauswirth to give OSU the 1-0 lead.

  • Neither team would score again 16:17 left in the third period when Jenn Gardiner found the back of the net off of assists from Gabby Rosenthal and Sophie Jaques.

  • Ohio State goalie Amanda Thiele almost had a clean sheet, making 15 saves on the day but finally allowing a goal with less than three minutes remaining in the game on the last shot she faced. The Buckeyes were able to salt away the last 2:23 of the game to close out the 2-1 victory.

The WCHA Final Faceoff semifinals will begin Friday, March 3, with Ohio State taking on No. 4 seed Minnesota.

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