The Buckeyes have already racked up 23 wins this year with the end of the regular season on the horizon.
Ohio State’s women’s hockey team is off this weekend, making it a perfect time to reflect on what the Buckeyes have done on the ice so far this season, as well as set the stage for what lies ahead.
With one weekend of regular season games left, Ohio State currently has a 23-6-3 record, marking the third-straight season the Buckeyes have won at least 23 games. With what they have shown on the ice so far this season, Ohio State is not only a lock to make their fifth straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament, they have a great shot to make their fourth straight title game.
The Buckeyes currently are ranked second in the country, with Wisconsin being the only squad ahead of them. Ohio State is riding a three-game winning streak, most recently sweeping a weekend series with St. Thomas in Columbus.
Friday night’s game wasn’t pretty for the Buckeyes early on, as St. Thomas jumped out to a 2-0 lead after a power play goal a couple minutes into the second period. Jocelyn Amos responded with a goal at the 5:47 mark of the second period before St. Thomas again extended their lead to two goals 10 minutes later. Riley Brengman cut into the lead early in the third period with a goal, but at the midway point of the third period St. Thomas would again restore their two-goal lead, pushing the score to 4-2.
One thing Nadine Muzerall’s team can hang their hat on is they never give up. Jenna Buglioni scored a short-handed goal with just under six minutes to play to close the gap to 4-3. Then with 30 seconds to go, Jocelyn Amos scored her second goal of the game to send the the contest to overtime. Joy Dunne would secure the comeback victory by netting a power play goal just over a minute into overtime.
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The Buckeyes didn’t have to sweat nearly as much in the second game against St. Thomas. Amos again scored the first goal of the game for Ohio State, putting the puck in the back of the net with the Buckeyes on the power play 8:30 into the first period. Makenna Webster would extend the lead to 2-0 early in the second period before St. Thomas would pull one back at the 8:48 mark of the period.
Ohio State wouldn’t be rattled by giving up a goal, keeping their foot on the gas with goals from Kiara Zanon, Dunne, and Buglioni to round out the 5-1 win. Goaltender Hailey MacLeod only faced seven shots in the victory, turning aside six of them.
With three goals over the weekend, Jocelyn Amos now has a team-high 21 goals this season. Back in January, Amos had a game to remember, netting four goals in a win over Bemidji State. While Amos holds the individual high mark for goal scoring by a Buckeye this season, the team’s top score came earlier in the season against Stonehill when they scored 11 goals on 72 shots.
Overall, five Ohio State players have at least 10 goals so far this season. Joining Amos and Dunne in the double-digit scorer club are Jenna Buglioni, Kiara Zanon, and Jordyn Petrie.
Sharing most of the goaltending duties for the Buckeyes this season have been Amanda Thiele and Hailey MacLeod. Thiele has been a goaltender on both of Ohio State’s national championship teams, so she has seen just about everything there is to see on the ice. This season Thiele is 14-5-2 with a 2.15 goals against average and .890 save percentage in 23 games.
MacLeod is a transfer from Minnesota-Duluth and has impressed in her first season in Columbus, posting a 8-1-1 record with a 1.63 goals against average, .907 save percentage, and three shutouts in 14 games.
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The moment of the season so far for Ohio State was undoubtedly squaring off with rival Wisconsin at Wrigley Field in early January. The Buckeyes and Badgers have split the last two national titles, with Wisconsin winning 1-0 in 2023, followed by Ohio State winning 1-0 to cap off last season.
Entering the outdoor game, the Buckeyes were destroyed just a couple days before in Madison, losing 6-0 to the Badgers. Much like many of the other games between the hockey powers over the last few years, the game at Wrigley Field came down to a shootout, with Ohio State earning the victory at the iconic baseball stadium.
To close out their regular season schedule, Ohio State will host St. Cloud State at the OSU Ice Rink on Friday at 6:00 p.m. ET and Saturday at 3:00 p.m. ET. The teams split their first two meetings of the season back in October, with Ohio State winning the first game 5-1 before losing a shootout the next day.
Following the weekend series, the WCHA will hold their first round games between Feb. 28 and March 2, which will determine the WCHA Final Faceoff field, which will take place March 7 and 8 in Duluth.