University Park, Pa. — The Ohio State Buckeyes women’s hockey team won the first national championship in their program’s history with a 3-2 defeat of Minnesota Duluth on Sunday night.
Paetyn Levis scored to earn her 11th point of the postseason and transfers Clair DeGeorge and Kenzie Hauswirth each lit the lamp to lead the Buckeyes to the historic title at Pegula Arena at Penn State.
“I just believed in these girls so much, as they did in each other,” OSU coach Nadine Muzerall said on the television broadcast. “This was one of the best hockey games they played all year. They were so deserving of this and they never quit. They played flawlessly tonight and I am so proud of them.”
There were areas Muzerall thought her team needed to improve after the NCAA quarterfinal and semifinal, but she felt they improved in every part of the game on Sunday and were particularly effective in the neutral zone to control the play, which was crucial in her team winning the game.
The teams played a scoreless first period as the familiar foes felt each other out and looked for places to exploit.
It’s an old adage that sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good, but on Sunday, the Buckeyes were fortunate enough to be both.
OSU was on the only power play of the game and UMD goalie Emma Soderberg went behind her net to try and corral the puck. She didn’t gather it and the puck came out in front of the net. Soderberg swept at it with her stick, but could not clear it and Levis threw herself into the scrum. The puck popped up and into the net to give Ohio State the 1-0 lead.
Minnesota Duluth was able to respond later in the period on a tip-in goal from Naomi Rogge, the Bulldogs’ hero from the semifinal game. Taylor Anderson won the puck and fed seventh defender Kailee Skinner, who carried the puck up the boards and put a shot on net from along the top of the circles. It looked like the goal belonged to Skinner, but replay showed Rogge tipped it in to tie the game at 1.
The Buckeyes took the lead once again in the opening minute of the third on another unfortunate play for Soderberg. She came out to clear an overshot pass into the zone, but Levis put pressure on her and forced a misplay of the puck, which ended up on the stick of DeGeorge. Soderberg fell to the ice and was unable to recover. DeGeorge took a couple of touches to bring her closer to the net, where she put it through UMD defender Kylie Hanley’s legs to make it a 2-1 game.
DeGeorge said her only thought when the puck came to her was “don’t miss!” She saw the UMD defenders trying to back up Soderberg and figured if she got closer, the likelihood of missing would be lower.
The Bulldogs responded even more quickly this time, as Anna Klein stepped up and intercepted a pass in the neutral zone. She fed the puck to Élizabeth Giguère, who placed a wicked wrister between Amanda Thiele and the near post to tie the game at 2.
For the second-straight year, the national championship was won on a goal that deflected into the net. Kenzie Hauswirth threw a puck at the net from the left side that was wide of the post, but hit the skate of Nina Jobst-Smith and went into the net and gave Ohio State a 3-2 lead.
“All game, coach kept saying ‘Throw puck on net, throw pucks on net,’ and I had a chance and threw it on net,” said Hauswirth.
From there, it was a matter of the Buckeyes tightening up the defense and making smart decisions with the puck. Minnesota Duluth could not control the puck long enough to get Soderberg off the ice for an extra skater and eventually called their timeout with 43.3 seconds left in the game.
During that pause, Muzerall told her team they had to be willing to sell out in order to win the championship.
“I told them to stay composed [with two minutes to play in the game] and told myself that I guess,” Muzerall said. “I said, ‘do you want to be a national champion? You’re knocking on the door. Do what you have to do but be smart. No cross ice passes. Soft chips, wear them down and don’t let the goalie come out.’”
There was a stoppage with ten seconds left on the clock, but Muzerall said she did not want to take her timeout in that scenario because it would have given Minnesota Duluth a chance to set up a play, as well. She said she trusted her team and their preparation and they rewarded her for that faith with the title.
It was a hard loss for the Bulldogs, who responded well to each goal scored on them and were a few bad bounces from the game turning out differently.
Rogge said the loss hurt, but that it would motivate her team.
“We won’t forget this moment. We want that trophy. This will fuel us,” she said. “We are just trying to get our team recognized as we should be. We come out and we play the top team in the nation to a 3-2 game, when it was close on a couple of crappy bounces in our opinion? I think we should be right up there with them.”
