MINNEAPOLIS — Ohio State came back twice from two-goal deficits at Minnesota, gained a 5-5 tie, and took five of six points on the weekend after winning the shootout.
“It’s not only not easy on the road; it’s not easy against the Gophers,” coach Nadine Muzerall said. “We were tested with our character, and this year we’ve worked a lot on our character, our values, and our mental thoughness, so it’s nice to see that it’s showing out on the ice.
The Buckeyes (3-0-1, 1-0-1-1 WCHA) received three-point games from a pair of freshmen wings on its top line, with Tatum Skaggs scoring twice and Emma Maltais tallying once.
“Obviously, we can’t give up five and expect to win many hockey games,” coach Brad Frost said. “We’ve got to get back to playing better defense and keeping pucks out of our net.”
After Olivia Knowles and Caitlin Reilly had staked Minnesota (1-2-1, 0-1-1-0 WCHA) to a 2-0 advantage before the game was eight minutes old, the OSU duo each found the net to knot the score, before another seven minutes passed. There was still time for Sophie Skarzynski to put the hosts back on top by the first intermission.
“There were some beautiful goals that both teams scored, and it just was a great game for fans to watch,” Muzerall said.
Alex Woken got loose for her first goal of the season in the opening minute of the second period to restore the two-goal lead, but Julianna Iafallo and Skaggs each delivered to square the game at 4-4 heading into the third stanza.
A Dani Sadek blast on the power play gave the Buckeyes a 5-4 lead at 12:48, but Reilly sniped her second goal of the game 54 seconds later for the 5-5 final.
“I got a great pass from [Grace] Zumwinkle, so I”ve got to give a lot of credit to my line mates,” Reilly said. “I was kind of wide open and they found a pass there.”
Once regulation time was completed, an even game to that point was all Buckeyes, as they had all nine shots on goal, and Skaggs and Iafallo converted shootout attempts while Kassidy Sauve stopped Minnesota twice.
“We’re not playing to be afraid to lose, we’re playing like we’re going to take it right now,” Muzerall said.
Ohio State returns home to host Minnesota-Duluth Friday and Saturday.
“We’ll make sure that we’re aware of their systems, but we’re not going to change something that’s working well,” Muzerall said.
Minnesota hits the road for the first time this year as it visits Bemidji State.
“I’m really proud of how our team played today,” Reilly said. “Yeah, we lost the shootout, but overall, we competed as hard as we could. We played with a lot of passion.”
