After settling for a tie on Friday, Minnesota bounced back with a 3-1 win over visiting Ohio State.
“Overall, I thought, man, we just played the way we know we can,” coach Brad Frost said. “I was really excited to see them respond and play that way after yesterday getting out-battled for a lot of the game.”
The Gophers (24-1-4, 17-1-4-2 WCHA) got a big game from freshman Kelly Pannek, who figured in all three of their tallies, while defenseman Rachel Ramsey had two assists.
Ohio State (14-11-3, 9-10-3-1 WCHA) was unable to get untracked through two periods, generating little in the way of offense and being outshot, 30-5.
“You can’t play 20 minutes of hockey and expect to win,” coach Nate Handrahan said. “We didn’t show up the first 40 minutes of the game. They came motivated to play and certainly took it to us. We didn’t have an answer for them for the first 40.”
With 8:57 elapsed, Pannek spotted Kate Schipper behind the defense. Kassidy Sauve made the save on the breakaway, but Schipper cashed in her own rebound.
“Not just the vision, but to be able to snap it off, and it’s in stride on the tape,” Frost said. “Great finish there by [Schipper]. It was a big goal for her; she needed it. She’s been fighting it a little bit.”
Sauve was able to hold her team in through the remainder of a first period in which the Buckeyes were outshot, 17-1.
Pannek squeezed a puck through Sauve midway through the second period, and it rolled over the goal line to increase the lead to 2-0.
Two and a half minutes later, the Gophers went on the game’s first power play. Hannah Brandt took the puck from Pannek, walked in and sniped the top corner for a 3-0 advantage.
“That one clicked,” Frost said. “They were a little concerned about some different players on the ice in regards to the back door or the top kid. We’ll take Hannah shooting from there every single time.”
Sauve made 41 saves.
“She was the reason it was 3-1,” Handrahan said. “She was the reason we got out of the first period after getting handily outshot, we were still in a 1-0 game, and one shot in the second period changes the game. She played good, but we didn’t produce.”
Ohio State bounced back with a stronger third period, and got the frame’s only goal from Claudia Kepler, her 10th of the year.
“The last 20, our goal was to go out and win the period,” Handrahan said. “We did that, but not against a team like that. They play hard; they compete. We needed more effort for an entire game.”
Amanda Leveille made 16 saves to improve to 19-1-3.
“You certainly want to build on any confidence that you may gain throughout a weekend, but you certainly got to let things go so you can prepare for the next opponent,” Handrahan said.
Ohio State next entertains Minnesota State, while the Gophers travel to North Dakota.
“Great five points on the weekend, and looking forward to the week coming up,” Frost said.
