Ohio State Women's Hockey 2025-26

[pgb-ohio]

PGB only does his articles for home games, and so the UM series is the next one he'll cover.

For Windchill22 & TJ77: ARM has it exactly right.

I've literally forgotten how long I've been doing the 3 Stars. But in the earliest days we didn't have Big Ten Plus. Beat reporters were rare to non-existent. "Covering" home games gave me the opportunity to send out information the other fanbases didn't have much access to. Conversely, I didn't have much access to info from the road games. Thus I had no basis for making Star Selections for road tilts. For better or worse, I haven't strayed far from my original format.

Regarding "Next Stargazing": I could call it "Next Article." But stylistically Next Stargazing is a much better fit, IMHO. Hope you wind up chilling & agreeing.

For many years I closed the 3 Stars Posts with "Up Next." But osualum86 already faithfully provides that information. And if you go to the Official OSU site, their articles do as well -- literally using the phrase Up Next. Double Redundancy just isn't my thing. So a while back I switched the focus to "here's when you'll hear from me next."

It looks obvious to me he evaluates the games he's able to attend.

This too.

I prefer to base my evaluations on what I see with my own eyes, rather than the packaged viewing we see on a stream or a broadcast.

In the usual case, I have my 3 Stars Selections in mind when I leave the Ice Rink. It's obvious I consult the Official Box Score to bolster my case. Sometimes reviewing the Box Score does motivate me to make adjustments. Other times a stat gives me a tiebreaker. And yes, in recent years I've taken to consulting the B1G+ streams to confirm something or obtain some additional detail.

But what I see Live is at the Heart Of It All. You see I'm delusional enough to believe I have a feel for the game.

 

[osualum86]

Shout out to our Friend, Eeyore ... hope you get well this weekend! Eeyore normally makes the trek to Columbus to see his Gophers take on our Buckeyes, but was not well enough to make the trip this time. Hope you are better real soon!

Ohio State scored the first four goals in tonight's game and held on for a 4-2 win. Maxine Cimoroni opened the scoring for the Buckeyes in the first period and the Buckeyes took that 1-0 lead into the first intermission. Ohio State added three more goals in the middle frame from Kaia Malachino, Jocelyn Amos, and Emma Peschel to take a 4-0 lead into the final intermission. Minnesota pushed back and got things going in the third period with goals from Anabella Fanale and Ava Lindsay to pull to within two at 4-2, but that was as close as the Gophers would get. Ohio State outshot Minnesota in this one 39-28. Buckeye netminder Hailey MacLeod stopped 26 of the 28 shots she faced. Minnesota's Hannah Clark stopped 35 of the 39 shots she faced. The two teams are back at it tomorrow with game time at 3:00 pm EST. For those attending, tomorrow is Senior Day, so plan on getting to the game early as the Seniors will be honored at 2:00 pm EST. Some teams are postponing their Senior Days until after the Olympics, and rightly so. Fortunately for us OSU fans, none of our Olympians are seniors.

 

[pgb-ohio]

Final Score From Friday, February 13th
Ohio State 4
Minnesota 2

Special Performance By The Special Teams​

The Buckeye Power Play? Irresistible, converting 3 of 4 opportunities. The Buckeye Penalty Kill? Immovable, snuffing out all 4 of the Gopher PP attempts. Good play at even strength? Oh yeah. But special teams were the story this time.

Stating the obvious, this series is being played in the shadow of the Olympic tournament. Buckeye alum Hannah Bilka scored a particularly nice goal the other day. Assists? Abby Murphy & Caroline Harvey. As such, the scoring line went Buckeyes from Gophers & Badgers. A nice moment of WCHA Unity.

But hey. Some pretty good hockey is being played stateside as well.

Three Stars of the Game: Decidedly Unofficial & Just For Fun​

Minnesota Honorable Mention: Ava Lindsay
The Gophers entered the 3rd Period trailing 4-0. The Buckeyes would have preferred to lock things down right there. But Minnesota had other ideas. The crafty Lindsay earned scoring points on both Gopher goals.

Ohio State Honorable Mention: Sara Swiderski
OMG it was great to have Sara back in the line-up! Offensively she contributed an assist plus a couple of shots. Defensively Swiderski played a crucial role in holding the fort. Her presence also gave the coaches the option to move Grace McCoshen up to 3rd Line Center, thus giving OSU 3 complete forward lines. That option was exercised.


#3 Star: Anabella Fanale, Minnesota
Fanale's goal launched the Gopher comeback bid. The play began with crisp long range passes from Ava Lindsay & Allie Franco. Anabella's dynamic dash and well placed shot proved to be the highlight of the day for the U of M.

#2 Star: Special Teams, Ohio State
See above. Kudos to every player who hit the ice on Special Teams.

#1 Star: (tie) Emma Peschel, Ohio State; and Jocelyn Amos, Ohio State
Friday afternoon I mentioned that I sometimes use the Official Stats as a tiebreaker. Can't do that this time. Both players had a goal and an assist on exactly 9 shots. Not surprisingly, those 9 shot totals easily led all players.

OK, maybe I snuck in one little tiebreaker. I listed Emma first because she had 5 Blocks. But big picture, this game required a total team effort. Placing both a forward & a defender at the top feels just right.


Next Stargazing/Next Article/Up Next: The Ohio State/Minnesota Rematch At 3:00 PM Saturday. As My Esteemed Colleague osualum86 Told You, Come At 2:00 PM For The Senior Day Ceremony.