University Park, Pa — The top seeded Ohio State Buckeyes defeated the Yale Bulldogs 2-1 in the national semifinal on Friday night to advance to their first-ever NCAA title game.
They will face fellow WCHA team Minnesota Duluth for the national championship at 4 pm Eastern on Sunday. The Bulldogs will be playing in their seventh title game and looking for their sixth overall championship.
It is believed the title game will feature teams with all-female coaching staffs for the first time since 2003, when Shannon Miller’s UMD defeated Katey Stone’s Harvard.
Yale played the game they hoped to play, said coach Mark Bolding, particularly since they scored first. Ohio State took control for a short stretch in the second period, but his team had chances and were in as good a position as they’d hoped as the game wound down.
“Not only did we show up, we may make some noise and I’m very thankful for their efforts and it’ll give us momentum for the future. We played them hard,” said Bolding.
The Bulldogs scored early in the second period when Tabea Botthof put back a rebound that was sitting unseen just outside the crease. Grace Lee carried the puck up the boards and put a shot on net. OSU goalie Amanda Thiele made the initial save, but as both Yale and Ohio State players crashed the net, it seemed no one saw the puck. Botthof came up from the blue line and pushed it in.
But Ohio State would be able to respond quickly, taking advantage of their first power play of the night. Coach Nadine Muzerall said her team switched up their power play unit to try and confuse the Bulldogs and it was successful. Paetyn Levis was able to drifts into the center of the ice while the defenders were watching the puck as it was passed around the perimeter. Liz Schepers hit her with a perfect pass that she was able to one-time into the back of the net.
Just a few minutes later, Jenn Gardiner took the puck nearly coast to coast, picking up speed to beat defenders before dragging the puck and roofing it to score what would prove to be the game-winner. She said she was employing the team’s ideals of being fast, physical and fierce when she nabbed the puck behind the mid line and took off towards net.
Despite being outshot, Yale had plenty of opportunities on net and Thiele was a crucial part of the Buckeye win. The sophomore, who took over starting duties when Andrea Brandli went to Beijing to play with Team Switzerland in the Olympics, had not relinquished the role since.
“She’s been lights out for us lately. it’s so important to have your goalie playing good and she’s been unbelievable for us and bailed us out a lot of times. So we’re really grateful that she is playing the way she is,” said Gardiner.
Ohio State will play in their first-ever title game against a familiar foe in Minnesota Duluth, who will be looking to win their sixth title. The teams split their regular season meetings, each winning and losing a game at home. They have not played since January and both have matured as the season has progressed, but Ohio State coach Nadine Muzerall said that at this point in the season, the game will be less about maneuvering on the ice and more about how the players handle the game mentally.
It was a tough loss for a Yale team that did not take the ice last season and were playing in their first-ever Frozen Four. Despite the sting of their season ending this way, Greta Skarzyski and Gianna Meloni said they were proud of the legacy this team would be leaving behind at Yale.
Bolding echoed the sentiment, saying that this team set a new standard for what can be expected and achieved at Yale. Their 29-win season is particularly impressive when contrasted with the fact that this team did not qualify for the ECAC playoffs when the seniors were sophomores.
