Ohio State Buckeyes 2022-2023 ... The Drive For Duluth

[Lindsay]

I checked with the rink and the online listed capacity of 1415 is wrong, it is in the 800's. If you take the 778 attendance of the quarterfinal game and add the teams and their staff, on and off ice officials, ushers and rink staff would be about 70 additional people which brings us up to right around around 850.
To answer Lindsay's question if needed for standing room the roped off section would be used for standing room only.
Also keep in mind it's not the university who decides the buildings maximum capacity but the Fire Marshall.
So for people coming from out of town for the women's game get there well before the doors open to guarantee entry so your trip isn't in vain.

Thanks Buckeye for the info!

[Hockeybuckeye]

And unlike our men's games you can exit and reenter the women's rink, just make certain you get your hand stamped before you go out the door.

[NMH]

One thing I'd add is that this is the coldest rink I've been in for women's college hockey. There is usually ice that's out past the corners of the boards, which would particularly those in SRO along the boards. I usually dress in a bunch of layers and that's enough, even when I'm in a rink all day for multiple games, but in Columbus I wore my floor length winter coat the whole time.

I only did the road trip out there once. I have driven all over the country and the stretch across Indiana and Ohio is one of my least favorite in the country. I like to try to get to different venues and games, but I'm also not really driveable to a lot of places. The problem with Duluth is if you're driving, you want to try and go before the snow, but hotel prices are nuts in the fall due to "leaf peeping."

I've long booked my FF room way in advance, but it's of particular note to me after the complete lack of rooms in Penn State last year, so I'll tell folks I already booked Duluth for the FF and prices were pretty high. Might be worth making a refundable reservation to lock something down. Just my two cents.

[Hockeybuckeye]

One thing I'd add is that this is the coldest rink I've been in for women's college hockey. There is usually ice that's out past the corners of the boards, which would particularly those in SRO along the boards. I usually dress in a bunch of layers and that's enough, even when I'm in a rink all day for multiple games, but in Columbus I wore my floor length winter coat the whole time.

The temp in the building in my opinion hasn't been too bad lately, possibly due to outside temperatures have been mild and we have many more bodies in the stands than we used to.
But I agree with NMH it can be very cold with the seating being very close to the ice and extremely low ceilings. I'm very susceptible to the cold now myself due to my chemotherapy but I wear a long sleeve shirt, a medium weight jacket and OSU hockey jersey over it all and have managed.

[Hockeybuckeye]

Going into this weekend one of the things that I feel gives OSU an edge over Minnesota is out of the top 10 conference scorers in conference games we have 5 players with Jaques and Gardiner holding the top two spots.

[Still Eeyore]

Going into this weekend one of the things that I feel gives OSU an edge over Minnesota is out of the top 10 conference scorers in conference games we have 5 players with Jaques and Gardiner holding the top two spots.

Ohio State has played eight conference games so far, while Minnesota and Wisconsin have each played six, and UMD has only played four. If you look at Points per Game, you see that OSU's dominance of the Overall Scoring leaders is an artifact of this difference.

[osualum86]

Minnesota took game one of this hard-fought matchup between #1 and #2 earlier tonight by a final score of 4-2. The Gophers scored the game's only first period goal and led 1-0 at the first intermission. Minnesota's goal was scored by Nelli Laitinen. That score stood up until late in the second period when Ohio State got two goals from Jenna Buglioni and Sophie Jaques within 38 seconds to take a 2-1 lead into the final intermission. Minnesota was not done yet, scoring three unanswered goals in the third period to win it 4-2. The Gopher goals were scored by Taylor Heise, Peyton Hemp, and Abigail Boreen. Ohio State outshot Minnesota 45-32. Minnesota netminder Skylar Vetter stonewalled the Buckeyes, stopping 43 of the 45 shots she faced to get the win. Buckeye goaltender Amanda Thiele stopped 28 of the 32 shots she faced in the loss. The two teams are back at it tomorrow with game time being 3:00 pm EST.

[Hockeybuckeye]

It will be interesting if Thiele will be in net Saturday or if coach will go with Kirk. I firmly believe coach will analyze Friday's game closely and adapt accordingly.
Minnesota won against our #1 women's team and our men's team did the same to Minnesota's #1 men's team. Even trade I'd call it.
Duluth did us a favor too taking down Wisconsin! Hopefully we'll get the win today and if we get the split it should make us keep our #1 ranking.

[pgb-ohio]

Final Score From Friday, October 28th
Minnesota 4
Ohio State 2

Round One Goes To The Gophers

It was an interesting, complex game. Many of us got drawn into to the idea that these teams were going to pick up right where they left off last February & March. Instead, it was what it was. An early season match-up, between two excellent teams, in the first month. Both the players and the crowd in the stands reflected that. The stretch run and the post-season will be here soon enough. Let's concentrate on the here and now.

At times the game could be described as careful probing. Even with two veteran clubs & lots of familiar faces, there was a little bit of: "OK, what do you guys have going on this year?" A related point is that this Minnesota team did a noticeably good job of taking care of their own end. Over the years, the Gophers have had so much firepower, they've sometimes looked like they're aspiring to be the Harlem Globetrotters on Ice. The first impression is that this year's squad is taking a more balanced, more disciplined approach.

Based on informal conversations after the final whistle, people are going to disagree on what we just saw. Or perhaps focus on different elements of the game. My take? Everybody on both squads played well, and gave their team a chance to win. But the Gopher Starters went out and won the game in the 3rd Period.

Three Stars Of The Game: Decidedly Unofficial & Just For Fun

Ohio State Honorable Mention: Emerson Jarvis
The injury to Kenzie Hauswirth disrupted the Buckeyes' 2nd & 3rd Lines. But thanks to Jarvis, it didn't decide the game. The Freshman from Mundare, Alberta made good use of her unexpected ice time. #2 brought real energy each time she stepped on the ice and acquitted herself well. Welcome to Ohio State, Emerson!


Minnesota Honorable Mention: Skylar Vetter
Some observers thought Skylar looked "shaky." Others thought she was superb. So is the glass half empty or half full? I say 90% full.

I'll gave you shaky for the last two minutes of the 2nd Period. While confronting the strongest Buckeye onslaught of the contest. For the other 58 minutes, I thought she was great. She faced many stiff shots from the outside; in general she swallowed those up. But the save that stands out in my mind came on a high quality Jenna Buglioni blast. The shot looked like it was labeled for the upper left hand corner of the net. But moving smartly from her left to right, Vetter made an efficient shoulder save.



#3 Star: (tie) Jenna Buglioni, Ohio State and Sophie Jaques, Ohio State
Throughout the game, Jenna & Sophie were the two most dangerous Buckeyes on the ice. It's fitting that they each had a goal. Both of them could have had more, but for the fine Gopher effort.


#2 Star: (tie) Madeline Wethington, Minnesota and Gracie Ostertag, Minnesota
A strong performance by all 6 Gopher 'D', with the starting pair leading the way. The Buckeyes won the SOG battle, but the Gophers won the war by keeping the Buckeyes mostly to the outside, mostly shooting from medium to long range. Madeline had 3 shot blocks, a total matched only by Gabby Rosenthal. Gracie had a block of her own. Despite the SOG disparity, Minnesota probably had more quality chances, thanks to the stalwart Gopher Defense.

Yes, The OSU created some turnovers on the forecheck. But in general, The U of M didn't get caught up ice on those plays. With a combination of skill, grit and numbers, most of the brush fires were quickly extinguished.


#1 Star: (tie)Taylor Heise, Minnesota; Abigail Boreen, Minnesota and Catie Skaja, Minnesota
Minnesota's 5 starting skaters got my top 5 mentions on this list. All were +2 for night. No one else on either team accomplished that.

Now, about that third period. Right before the end of the second stanza, the Buckeyes had just taken their first lead. Big momentum boost? If so, it didn't last long. It took Taylor just 18 seconds to draw the Gophers even and change the course of the evening.

Now in this write-up, I'm mostly ignoring the GWG. That's rare for me, and some will understandably take issue with it. Still, even after the Gophers took the 3-2 lead, the Buckeyes were still very much in the game. But when Abigail's insurance tally made it a two goal cushion, it felt like that settled the matter. The reader can decide whether or not I had my finger on the pulse.

Note that on what I'm calling the two crucial goals, all three first line forwards earned scoring points on both tallies.


Up Next: Round Two. This Afternoon @ 3:01 PM EDT.

[Nowheresville]

I didn't get into Columbus until 630 last night, so that made the choice to go to there men's game easier. I did watch the women's game during intermission on my phone. I was pretty disappointed that there wasn't a single mention of the women's game or team at any point that I noticed. I thought they would at least give a score update or two during intermission, but they didn't even include the women's team on the upcoming events calendar on the video board.

While driving across Indiana, I was listening to this week's Gopher Puck Live podcast, which included about a 10 minute discussion about the facilities at OSU, including a fair amount about the women's team specifically. It's around the 40 minute mark if you're interested.

Looking forward to checking out the ice rink this afternoon. It will be my 5th wcha school and 10th venue overall for seeing a women's game. I'll likely be sitting behind the end line.

[robertearle]

Ohio State has played eight conference games so far, while Minnesota and Wisconsin have each played six, and UMD has only played four. If you look at Points per Game, you see that OSU's dominance of the Overall Scoring leaders is an artifact of this difference.

The other way to think about it is "points surrendered".

Wisconsin has two conference ties, with one 'extra point' won and one lost; so three points surrendered (the WCHA standings page has that wrong at the moment, BTW). OSU a full loss and a tie; four points surrendered. Duluth a regulation loss, three ties with one 'extra point' lost; seven points surrendered. Minnesota has surrendered zero points so far. (Hoping that changes today! :-)

[pgb-ohio]

Looking forward to checking out the ice rink this afternoon. It will be my 5th wcha school and 10th venue overall for seeing a women's game. I'll likely be sitting behind the end line.

FYI, we weren't particularly close to a sellout Friday evening. It was a good crowd, and the true believers were there. But you could have gained admission at any point of the evening.

[robertearle]

Makenna Webster scores a goal... for Ohio State... against Minnesota...

Man, is that a complicated set of emotions and reactions for a Badger fan!

[osualum86]

Makenna Webster scores a goal... for Ohio State... against Minnesota...

Man, is that a complicated set of emotions and reactions for a Badger fan!

Makenna has been a great addition to the team! I have to admit, I am selfishly looking forward to field hockey season ending so we can have her full-time.

[osualum86]

Today's game will go down as a tie, probably a fitting result for these two teams. Ohio State did win the shootout and got that second conference point. I was really proud of the girls today for coming back from a two-goal deficit on two different occasions. This team keeps fighting and eventually today, they got the game tied. I need to get out the box score to give you all the information on this one. The Gophers got out to a fast start in this one, scoring two goals in the first four minutes of the game to go up 2-0 while the fans were just getting settled in. Those Minnesota goals were scored by Abbey Murphy and Joselin Bouveng. Later in the first period the Buckeyes got a goal from Makenna Webster to cut into Minnesota's lead at 2-1. That is how the teams went into the first intermission. Neither team could find the back of the net in the second period. That changed drastically in the third period where the Gophers scored twice and Ohio State got three goals. Minnesota struck first in the third period as Abbey Murphy netted her second goal of the game to restore the Gophers' two-goal lead at 3-1. Ohio State came roaring back to tie it at 3-3 on goals from Jenn Gardiner and Sophie Jaques. Minnesota would take the lead, 4-3, on a Taylor Heise goal. The Buckeyes got another goal from Sophie Jaques to tie it at 4-4. 65 minutes was not enough, so the teams went into a shootout where Grace Zumwinkle scored for the Gophers. Sophie Jaques scored for the Buckeyes and Jenna Buglioni got the shootout-winner. Shots on goal were even at 31-31 with each netminder stopping 27 of those 31 shots. Skylar Vetter was in net for Minnesota in this one and Raygan Kirk got the start for the Buckeyes. Ohio State will travel to St. Thomas for a pair of games next weekend. Minnesota will return home to host Minnesota-Duluth.