Ohio State recovered from a 10-0 drubbing at the hands of Minnesota yesterday by limiting the Gophers without a single goal on even strength today. But the No. 1 Gophers still won on the strength of their specialty teams, as usual, and cruised to a 5-1 victory and series sweep. Defenseman Lyndsay Wall and forward Kelly Stephens led the Gophers with two power play goals apiece, and freshman Bobbi Ross added a shorthanded goal that broke the team season record in the category.
“They come in fast and hard with good forchecking,” said Ohio State coach Jackie Barto. “You can’t hesitate against this team.”
Minnesota (10-0, 10-0 WCHA) got things started midway through the first period on beautiful tape-to-tape passing from the top line of Kelly Stephens, Krissy Wendell and Natalie Darwitz. Stephens provided the finish past Ohio State’s Melissa Glaser on the power play.
“We move the puck well and when we do that it makes for easier goals,” said Stephens, who had a six-goal weekend.
“[Kelly] is being humble because she is real hard-working and her work is paying off,” said Minnesota coach Laura Halldorson. “I know this weekend was a real confidence boost for her.”
The No.1 Gophers extended their lead to 3-0 by 12:42 of the second period on power play goals by Stephens and Wall. Ohio State battled back as leading goal-scorer Jeni Creary found the net in the final minutes of the period on the power play to cut the deficit back to two.
In the third period, momentum shifted to Ohio State as the Gophers took consecutive penalties, but Minnesota still found a way to shift the tide back in its favor. Five minutes into the period, Ross caught a pass from Andrea Nichols and went to the net strong past Glaser for the 4-1 lead. It took only one night for the Gophers to break the team season shorthanded goal record they had just tied the game before. The14th short-handed goal of the year broke the record set by the 1999-2000 team.
“Everything was specialty teams today,” Barto said. “We focused on taking away their top three, Stephens, Wendell and Dawitz. They also have weapons in Wall, Ross and Nichols. We have to stay out of the box against a team this well-balanced.”
Minnesota goaltender Jody Horak kept Ohio State off the scoreboard early by making blocker saves, including one diving stick save that brought the crowd to its feet. She made 15 saves for the day, while Glaser stopped 44.
Ohio State next heads home for a series with Northeastern. Minnesota will have the weekend off, while sending Darwitz, Stephens, Wall and Wendell to the Four Nations Cup at Lake Placid, N.Y., to compete with the Team USA. The foursome will play in the tournament against Finland, Sweden and Canada from Nov. 10 to Nov. 14.
