Ohio State Buckeyes 2017-2018 ... Home Playoffs This Season?

[vicb]

Re: Ohio State Buckeyes 2017-2018 ... Home Playoffs This Season?

I don't know about the rest of you, but I regularly read the 'Wednesday Women' blog. In my Friday night game post, when I used the phrase "silenced the critics," I was not talking about any of you. I was talking about some of these uscho.com writers who continue to act like Ohio State is not for real. Here is an excerpt from this week's Wednesday Women to illustrate this and a nice retort from one of the other writers.

Candace Horgan: I mentioned Robert Morris earlier. The Colonials split with Ohio State. The Buckeyes have seemed to be fading over the last few weeks, but that’s still an important win for the Colonials. It also actually helps Ohio State in the PairWise comparisons. What did that series tell you about both teams right now?

Arlan Marttila: I’ve heard that perception from others as well that Ohio State seems to be fading, but I’m not really sure where that comes from. The Buckeyes are almost at the halfway point of the season, and they have just the one loss to a team other than Wisconsin. An overtime loss on the road to a ranked opponent isn’t all that ****ing. The toughest portion of the schedule is behind them. A four-week stretch does loom starting on January 12 where they play Robert Morris, Minnesota, UMD, and Wisconsin in succession, but three of those series are in Columbus. Overall, only three of Ohio State’s remaining nine series are on the road.

Big shoutout to Arlan for rebutting this continued rhetoric that "Ohio State is fading." 11-3-2 and they're fading. Well, alrighty then!! As Arlan said, two losses to #1 Wisconsin, and a split on the road vs #9 Robert Morris. We had a couple of games in there vs Minnesota State that were closer than some probably expected when Kassidy Sauve was out with an injury, and we had a four-point weekend at Bemidji where we tied, then lost the extra point in a shootout before winning the second game outright. Bottom line, if 11-3-2 is "fading" then dang, I hope we continue "fading" for the rest of the season. Ok, everyone, thank you for putting up with me and letting me vent. I know, I know, act like I have been there before. Well, us OSU fans, we "haven't been there before," so maybe my good friends who are fans of Minnesota and Wisconsin can help me out on that! We have a couple of games this weekend against St. Cloud and I cannot wait to get to the OSU Ice Rink this weekend for those! Need to get six points, need to earn six points. Cannot take the Huskies for granted just because we swept them on the road with two 4-0 shutouts. They will come down here with their 'A' game and we need to bring our 'A' game, too! After the OT loss to RMU Saturday and a subsequently hard week of practices, I am sure our kids will be ready to go. Take care everyone and enjoy a great weekend of Women's Hockey! Talk to you tomorrow night when I get home from the game!!

Might want to take a valium or two before the games.

 

[D2D]

Re: Ohio State Buckeyes 2017-2018 ... Home Playoffs This Season?

Might want to take a valium or two before the games.

Women's hockey could use more enthusiastic fans like osualum86!

 

[osualum86]

Re: Ohio State Buckeyes 2017-2018 ... Home Playoffs This Season?

Might want to take a valium or two before the games.

LOL, it wasn't at an OSU Women's Hockey game, but at a different sporting event, a buddy of mine asked me if I ever had my blood pressure checked. I told him I do have it checked regularly, and surprisingly, it is normal!

 

[osualum86]

Re: Ohio State Buckeyes 2017-2018 ... Home Playoffs This Season?

Women's hockey could use more enthusiastic fans like osualum86!

Thanks for the kind words D2D!!

 

[osualum86]

Re: Ohio State Buckeyes 2017-2018 ... Home Playoffs This Season?

Tonight's game needed 65 minutes and it still was not decided so they went into a shootout where the Buckeyes prevailed in the fifth round on a goal by junior forward Grace Zarzecki to earn two points. Give the Huskies credit tonight. They came out firing and went up 2-0 after one period. Ohio State came back with single goals in the second and third periods to tie it, and had chances to win it, but just could not get a third goal past St. Cloud goaltender Janine Alder, at least not until the shootout. From an Ohio State point of view, it was not the Bucks best game. It seemed like this week's aforementioned hard practices (after the loss to RMU in OT last Saturday) took a toll on Ohio State as the girls seemed to not have their legs tonight. Fatigue may have been a factor with the sloppy puck management as well tonight. I don't want to make excuses for tonight's performance or take anything away from the Huskies, it was just what I observed during the game tonight. I have seen a number of games this season where the Buckeyes have played better than they did tonight. Hopefully they get their legs back under them and come out firing tomorrow. Give St. Cloud credit, they were a determined team tonight, and as I alluded to earlier, they brought their game tonight and jumped on the Buckeyes. The Husky goals were scored by Abby Thiessen and former Buckeye Dana Rasmussen. It was really nice to talk to her and her parents after the game. Dana played for the Bucks as a freshman in the 2015-16 season, then transferred to St. Cloud State. Per WCHA rules, she had to sit last season but is seeing plenty of action at forward for the Huskies as a redshirt sophomore this season. After the first two St. Cloud goals, Buckeye netminder Kassidy Sauve shut the door on the Huskies the rest of the night. Ohio State's goals were scored by Tatum Skaggs and Julianna Iafallo. Neither team scored in the overtime period so it went to a shootout. Kassidy Sauve stopped all five St. Cloud shots she faced in the shootout and the Buckeyes' Grace Zarzecki ended it in the 5th round. Ohio State outshot St. Cloud 43-31. Both backstops were pretty staunch tonight with St. Cloud's Janine Alder stopping 41 of the 43 shots she faced and the Buckeyes' Kassidy Sauve stopping 29 of the 31 shots she faced. The teams are back at it tomorrow with game time at 3:07 pm EST.

 

[pgb-ohio]

Re: Ohio State Buckeyes 2017-2018 ... Home Playoffs This Season?

12:00 Noon. Lunch is being served over on the WCHA thread.

 

[osualum86]

Re: Ohio State Buckeyes 2017-2018 ... Home Playoffs This Season?

Another day, another tie for these two teams. Give both teams credit today. The Buckeyes played much better today than they had last night and outshot St. Cloud 41-18 in today's game. Give credit to the St. Cloud defenders and goaltender, Emma Polusny, also, for keeping the Bucks off the scoreboard until the shootout. On the other side of the scoresheet, Buckeye backstop Kassidy Sauve stopped every shot she faced today to add to her school record for shutouts. Not much, really, to talk about with this one, statistically, aside from the shots on goal and the outstanding defense/goaltending on both sides since no one scored in this one. The five-minute overtime period was not enough to decide this one so it went to a shootout where Liv Halvorson was able to get a slapshot by Polusny for the game-winner. St. Cloud will return home with a well-earned two points for their efforts and host #1 Wisconsin next weekend. The #6 Buckeyes are off next weekend, then will head to Erie, PA for a series at Mercyhurst on 12/15 - 12/16 before the Holiday break.

 

[pgb-ohio]

Re: Ohio State Buckeyes 2017-2018 ... Home Playoffs This Season?

Another day, another tie for these two teams.

And perhaps another helping of meatloaf for your post-game meal? The diner is open for business over on the WCHA thread.

 

[osualum86]

Re: Ohio State Buckeyes 2017-2018 ... Home Playoffs This Season?

And perhaps another helping of meatloaf for your post-game meal? The diner is open for business over on the WCHA thread.

Meatloaf is alright, but I would prefer chicken, as in "winner, winner, chicken dinner." We dropped down to 7th in the pairwise after tying St. Cloud twice. I am not going to complain too much about a four-point weekend. Unfortunately, the pairwise is not very forgiving with two ties against a team that is ranked 27th.

 

[osualum86]

Re: Ohio State Buckeyes 2017-2018 ... Home Playoffs This Season?

Ohio State gutted out a 2-1 win in Erie tonight against a game Mercyhurst Laker squad intent on protecting home ice. The Lakers jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a goal by Sarah Hine in the first period and that is how the period ended. The Buckeyes came back with single tallies in the second and third periods from Maddy Field and Liz Schepers. Schepers scored the game-winner with 1:09 left in the game. Ohio State outshot the Lakers 29-20. Laker goalie Kennedy Blair stopped 27 of the 29 shots she faced. Ohio State's Kassidy Sauve saved 19 of the 20 shots she faced. The two teams are back at it tomorrow at the Mercyhurst Ice Center with game time at 2:00.

 

[pgb-ohio]

Re: Ohio State Buckeyes 2017-2018 ... Home Playoffs This Season?

Appreciate the eyewitness account. Very cool that you made the trip.

This Buckeye team has a knack for finding ways to win. Also very cool.

 

[osualum86]

Re: Ohio State Buckeyes 2017-2018 ... Home Playoffs This Season?

Appreciate the eyewitness account. Very cool that you made the trip.

This Buckeye team has a knack for finding ways to win. Also very cool.

Unfortunately for us Buckeye fans, today they found a way to lose. I am not even sure how to describe it, but Ohio State led 4-2 with 6 minutes and change to go in today's game, then allowed Mercyhurst to score four unanswered goals to win 6-4. The last goal was an empty-netter. This one is sure to leave a sour taste in the Buckeyes' mouths heading into the break. If I had not been there to see it in person, I wouldn't have believed it. This was certainly a game where momentum swung back and forth, with the last big momentum swing going the Lakers' way in the end. Ohio State got off to a fast start, scoring 2 goals the first five minutes to take a quick 2-0 lead. Mercyhurst would eventually tie the game at 2, then the Buckeyes scored the next two goals to take a 4-2 lead. At that point, the wheels came off. The Lakers would score three goals in the next five minutes to take a 5-4 lead, then added an empty netter to make the final score 6-4. Well, let's get to the scoring. I am going to need the box score for this one. First, for the victorious Lakers, the goals were scored by Sarah Hine, Nicole Guagliardo, Sam Isbell, Brooke Hartwick, and Celine Frappier (2). The Ohio State goals were scored by Tatum Skaggs, Dani Sadek, Liz Schepers, and Jincy Dunne. Ohio State outshot the Lakers 29-28 with Buckeye netminder Kassidy Sauve stopping 22 of the 27 shots she faced (28th shot was the empty net goal at the end). The Lakers' Sara McDonnell stopped 25 of the 29 shots she faced. The Buckeyes will now go on break and return to host Penn State on 1/5 - 1/6. Mercyhurst will go on break and return to face Bemidji State on the road on 1/2 - 1/3.

One more thing on today's game and the season so far ... yes, we lost one today that we should have finished off, but this Buckeye team is setting at 12-4-4 at the break, solidly in the top three of the always-tough WCHA, and I will continue to trust the process. Today, the team lost a game they should have won. They lost one on the road in OT against Robert Morris, who like the Buckeyes, are a top ten team. And the other two losses are against the #1 team in the land, the Wisconsin Badgers, on the road in Madison. I think Coach Nadine said it best today, and I will just copy and paste from the recap on ohiostatebuckeyes.com ... "We’ve played some extraordinary hockey over the first half of the season and I hope the girls don’t lose sight of that. We also have room to improve and grow, and while we’re on our break I hope they recharge while continuing to prepare both mentally and physically for a tough second half of the season schedule.” Our program won 14 games the entire season last year. The year before, they barely cracked double figures with 10 wins, so there is no way I am going to downplay what this program is doing this season over one bad loss. I think the Minnesota fans out there who had the privilege of watching Nadine Muzerall play and coach for the Gophers will back me up on this ... we have a good one here with Coach Nadine, and given the resources and support from the OSU Athletic Department (hopefully a new arena in the near future), she will get the Ohio State Women's Hockey Program to the next level. Today's loss was brutal, but as Coach Nadine said, the girls shouldn't lose sight of the fact that they have played some great hockey in the first half of the season, and as a huge fan of the program, I am certainly not going to lose sight of that. I am already looking forward to the second half of the season! To all my wonderful friends here, I hope you have a wonderful holiday season! I also want to wish a wonderful holiday season to our team, coaches, and additional staff that have given us so much to cheer about this season, and also our OSU Women's Hockey Parents! Ok everyone, thanks for hanging with me tonight. I will cut myself off now!

 

[GopherBadger]

Re: Ohio State Buckeyes 2017-2018 ... Home Playoffs This Season?

This is not good for the WCHA & their hopes for 3 Teams in the tournament! Too many losses to teams outside of the WCHA!

 

[BigFan]

Re: Ohio State Buckeyes 2017-2018 ... Home Playoffs This Season?

This is not good for the WCHA & their hopes for 3 Teams in the tournament! Too many losses to teams outside of the WCHA!

What happened to the name of the thread " Home Playoffs This Season ", well on the way to making this happen and have exceeded all expectations at this point. Looking forward to the second half of the season and development of a winning culture for this program. Go Bucks Go !

 

[osualum86]

Re: Ohio State Buckeyes 2017-2018 ... Home Playoffs This Season?

This is not good for the WCHA & their hopes for 3 Teams in the tournament! Too many losses to teams outside of the WCHA!

You must be talking about the other teams in the league because we have only lost two games outside of the WCHA ... once to Robert Morris, who is ranked in the top ten, and yesterday's loss to Mercyhurst. Ohio State is 4-2 in their non-league games.

 

[osualum86]

Re: Ohio State Buckeyes 2017-2018 ... Home Playoffs This Season?

What happened to the name of the thread " Home Playoffs This Season ", well on the way to making this happen and have exceeded all expectations at this point. Looking forward to the second half of the season and development of a winning culture for this program. Go Bucks Go !

Exactly ... I have said it before somewhere in this thread and if not, I will say it now, I actually think Coach Nadine has this program ahead of schedule. We are setting in third place in the league for now and we have two games in hand on Minnesota, who is sitting one point ahead of us. They have played 16 league games and we have played 14. So, not only are we going to be hosting a first round series, we have a great shot at finishing second, provided we learn from mistakes (like not finishing yesterday's game the right way) and continue to get better. The biggest thing we need to learn, and this seems to happen with programs that are not necessarily used to this level of success, is to not play down to the level of the competition. Championship programs like Wisconsin and Minnesota don't play down to the level of their competition and if we aspire to get to that level, we need to quit doing that. We are having a great season this year and I sincerely hope we are able to get back to the level we were at earlier this season when we were sweeping Minnesota and Minnesota-Duluth.

 

[ne7minder]

Re: Ohio State Buckeyes 2017-2018 ... Home Playoffs This Season?

Exactly ... I have said it before somewhere in this thread and if not, I will say it now, I actually think Coach Nadine has this program ahead of schedule. We are setting in third place in the league for now and we have two games in hand on Minnesota, who is sitting one point ahead of us. They have played 16 league games and we have played 14. So, not only are we going to be hosting a first round series, we have a great shot at finishing second, provided we learn from mistakes (like not finishing yesterday's game the right way) and continue to get better. The biggest thing we need to learn, and this seems to happen with programs that are not necessarily used to this level of success, is to not play down to the level of the competition. Championship programs like Wisconsin and Minnesota don't play down to the level of their competition and if we aspire to get to that level, we need to quit doing that. We are having a great season this year and I sincerely hope we are able to get back to the level we were at earlier this season when we were sweeping Minnesota and Minnesota-Duluth.

You better hope that you either finish in the top 4 or that both OSU and MN make the NCAA. If only one WCHA team finishes in the second tier their reward will be a trip to Madison. Still, very much looking forward to seeing you at Ridder for the WCHA playoffs.

 

[ARM]

Re: Ohio State Buckeyes 2017-2018 ... Home Playoffs This Season?

You must be talking about the other teams in the league because we have only lost two games outside of the WCHA ... once to Robert Morris, who is ranked in the top ten, and yesterday's loss to Mercyhurst. Ohio State is 4-2 in their non-league games.

It's all about expectations. A 4-2 record is fine if you're shooting for respectability. If the goal is to get into the NCAAs, 4-2 comes up a little short, unless you've played teams more of the caliber that UW and UMD have played. Minnesota is 5-1, and that is more hindrance than help. OSU has played a better schedule than Minnesota, but the loss to Mercyhurst hurts that comparison.

So, not only are we going to be hosting a first round series, we have a great shot at finishing second, ...

I'd be fine with OSU finishing higher in the WCHA; what I want is to finish higher in the PairWise. I don't think that the WCHA will get two at-large teams into the tournament this year.

We are having a great season this year and I sincerely hope we are able to get back to the level we were at earlier this season when we were sweeping Minnesota and Minnesota-Duluth.

A sweep means you took all of the points. The Buckeyes won the series in Minneapolis but did not sweep. While you may be ahead of schedule, OSU has an opportunity this season that it may not have next year. I realize that your outlook is to always see the positive, but I think that your coach realizes that the future is now.

 

[Lindsay]

Re: Ohio State Buckeyes 2017-2018 ... Home Playoffs This Season?

OSU has tough games after the break as well. Penn State is eventually going to upset somebody, and Robert Morris already has the split with OSU and isn’t going to go down lightly. Going 4-0 in those games would (maybe?) help OSU’s pairwise picture, but it will be tough.

Regardless, still a great first half for OSU.

 

[osualum86]

Re: Ohio State Buckeyes 2017-2018 ... Home Playoffs This Season?

You better hope that you either finish in the top 4 or that both OSU and MN make the NCAA. If only one WCHA team finishes in the second tier their reward will be a trip to Madison. Still, very much looking forward to seeing you at Ridder for the WCHA playoffs.

I know making the NCAA Tournament is the ultimate goal, and honestly, at the start of the season, that was not an expectation for me. After the first half of the season, though, I am starting to come around to that possibility.