NO. 8 BULLDOGS SETTLE FOR SERIES SPLIT AGAINST NO. 2 OHIO STATE

One day after shutting out No. 2 Ohio State University, the No. 8 University of Minnesota Duluth women’s hockey team will leave Columbus, Ohio with a series split after the Buckeyes handed the Bulldogs a 3-1 loss Saturday afternoon at the OSU Ice Rink. Each team took two wins and picked up splits in both their home series, going 1-1 both home and away this season.

“We’re all really tough to sweep, which is, I think, fun, it makes our league really good and that’s the parity that we talked about and you see it in action,” said UMD head coach Maura Crowell. “I think we took some steps, we’re going to continue to take steps and it’s really adapting to the situation that we’re in. Unfortunately, we didn’t get it done and I would credit OSU for playing a really good game today.”

The Bulldogs again got stellar play between the pipes in the form of sophomore goaltender Jojo Chobak, who faced 41 shots in the game and made 38 saves.  Chobak, making just the second start of her UMD career, made 65 saves in the series on 69 OSU shots.

“For her to go and play the way she did all weekend long gave us a chance to win today against a tough barrage of shots, especially in the second period,” said Crowell about Chobak.  “She stood tall for us and like I said, gave us a chance to win.”

OSU finally broke through on Chobak after 70:39 minutes of play when Jenna Buglioni finished off a rush at 10:39 of the first period for the Buckeyes first goal of the series. Sophie Jaques’ rebound tally doubled that lead at 16:56, giving the Buckeyes a 2-0 lead at the first intermission.

UMD held OSU scoreless in the second period despite a 17-6 shot on goal advantage, but the Buckeyes struck again on a 2-on-1 at 15:17 of the third period.  The Bulldogs scraped back less than 30 seconds later, and McKenzie Hewett buried the face-off efforts of Gabby Krause and Naomi Rogge to draw UMD back within two goals at 15:31. 

Despite a Bulldog empty net and extra skater from 18:16 on, the Buckeyes and goaltender Amanda Thiele, also in Olympic relief duties for OSU, held on for the series split.

Chobak made 38 saves in the game, while Thiele made 18 for the Buckeyes, who outshot UMD 41-19 in the skate.  Neither team committed a penalty in the game – the first game without a penalty for the Bulldogs since Jan. 26, 2019.  

UMD (14-8-0, 11-7-0) will head back to the confines of AMSOIL Arena next weekend to face Western Collegiate Hockey Association member Minnesota State University, Mankato. The Friday-Saturday series gets underway at 3:01 p.m. both days.