Final Score From Friday, January 13th
Ohio State 2
Wisconsin 1
(O.T.)
Happy New Year; Happy Game Result
A friend pointed out that it had been 51 days since the Buckeyes had played a home game at the Ice Rink. All December games were on the road. Of course the calendar has flipped to 2023. A long wait for the new start. The long wait was rewarded.
The game was highly entertaining, yet tense throughout. Goals were rare and noteworthy. The Buckeyes made the last play with 39 seconds left in overtime.
Are The Badgers Becoming Unraveled? Two Cases To Ponder
Timothy A is USCHO's Sandbagger-In-Chief. With some regularity, he can be counted on to declare the Badgers' situation hopeless. That should always be taken with several grains of salt. UW is a superbly coached, highly talented team. They will continue to be a threat for the National Title until someone knocks them out on the ice. If that happens.
Case 1:
Katie Kotlowski took an ill-advised Hitting From Behind penalty. She got the 5 & 10 the played called for. But Kotlowski wasn't done. On her way to the locker room, she must have felt the hatred coursing through her veins. Whatever the exact motivation, she delivered a two-handed lumberjack chop to the Ohio State Olympians Banner. Undisciplined. And very un-Badgerlike. A crack in the UW armor? Probably no. After all, the rest of the Badgers kept calm and killed off the resulting three minute PP. But the moment of madness was definitely a surprise.
Case 2: With a burst of speed usually reserved for drag strips,
Sophie Shirley blew by the Buckeye Defense and created a clean breakaway for herself. On the shot, she sacrificed a little pace to gain accuracy. The result? A gentle ping off the post. On what might have been a GWG. That had to be extremely frustrating. But Sophie kept her cool and soldiered on. That's what I expect from this Badger team. While they must be suffering under the burden of their losing streak, they will soldier on to the end, whatever the end may be.
Three Stars Of The Game: Decidedly Unofficial & Just For Fun
Honorable Mention: (tie) Cami Kronish, Wisconsin; and Raygun Kirk, Ohio State
Both goalies were excellent; and undoubtedly deserve more prose than I'm giving them here. Both gave their respective teams an opportunity to win. But on this occasion I'm going to focus on the three precious goals.
#3 Star: (tie) Lacey Eden, Wisconsin; Brita Curl, Wisconsin; and Natalie Buchbinder, Wisconsin
In case you haven't figured it out already, everyone who earned a scoring point gets a Star. Goals were that hard to come by.
The Wisconsin tally began with a breakout pass by Natalie. Brita carried the puck up the right side. Under duress from the Buckeye 'D,' Curl somehow completed a one-handed cross-slot pass to Lacey. While the pass was impressive, the puck wasn't lying flat. But Eden got enough of it to sneak it inside the left post.
#2 Star: Jenna Buglioni, Ohio State; Paetyn Levis, Ohio State; and Kenzie Hauswirth, Ohio State
Three seconds after a PP expired, the Buckeyes knotted the score. Operating down low on the right side, Kenzie directed a pass up high to Paetyn. After the pass, Hauswirth crashed the net. Meanwhile Paetyn executed a brilliant diagonal pass to Jenna. Buglioni slammed it home.
Remember Kenzie? Now in the slot, she took a swing at the puck and nearly redirected the shot. She came within inches of succeeding. As it was, the "decoy" swing must have been a serious distraction to the Badger keeper. All three players certainly earned their scoring points on that play. But this would be it for scoring during regulation time.
#1 Star: Sophie Jaques, Ohio State; and Emma Maltais, Ohio State
The Badgers spent the entire game trying to take away Sophie as an offensive threat. We even saw TWO Badger defenders go down to block a single Jaques shot. The resulting block was just 1 of 27 blocks the Badgers had for the game. An impressive total.
For over 64 minutes, Wisconsin succeeded in this enterprise. Then came the OT GWG.
The decisive sequence began with a little coaching chess match. Just over a minute to play. Face-off in the OSU Defensive Zone. Timeout, Ohio State. Timeout complete, 3 Buckeyes take their positions. Suprisingly, no Jaques. MJ smells a rat. The Buckeyes are planning to sneak Sophie into the play after the draw. Timeout, Wisconsin. Timeout complete, the Buckeye trio now includes Jaques.
A few more seconds of action. Face-off in the UW Defensive Zone. An Olympian face-off win by Emma. Sophie in the slot, with plenty of time. A moment's hesitation, as Jaques takes a sniper's aim at the upper right hand corner. Nails it. With a beautiful Kaz-Worthy top shelf blast. The Ice Rink explodes with joy.
Up Next: The Series Continues With The Saturday Rematch. The Building Was Full Friday. If Hand Stamps are issued, be sure you get one!