In some ways, Saturday’s 4-2 Ohio State win over Minnesota State was just like Friday’s 2-1 OSU victory the day before. Once again, a Melanie Salatino power play goal gave the Mavericks the lead within the third period, Ohio State came back to tie the game on the power play, and OSU senior Jeni Creary scored the Buckeyes’ last two goals to lead them to victory in front of 220 fans at All Seasons Arena.
Six minutes into the third period, Salatino scored her second power-play goal of the season to give MSU (0-2, 0-2 WCHA) a 2-1 lead, but the lead was short lived. Ohio State (3-1, 3-1 WCHA) evened the score on a power-play goal by sophomore defenseman Amber Bowman just two minutes later.
The goal seemed to shift momentum as OSU added another goal two minutes later on a Creary slapshot to give the Buckeyes a 3-2 advantage with 10:50 left in regulation.
Minnesota State was given a chance to even the score with a 5-on-3 power-play, but the Ohio State defense held strong and refused to allow the Mavericks to net the equalizer.
“That 5-on-3 towards the end was a key thing,” said MSU coach Jeff Vizenor said. “We didn’t capitalize on it and that was the difference in the game right there, special teams.”
Creary scored her fourth goal of the weekend on a power play with just 1:38 remaining in the game to put an exclamation point on the weekend sweep.
“She’s a natural goal-scorer who found ways to score goals this weekend,” Vizenor said. “That’s something she does well and give her credit for that. She came through and found ways to score for the Buckeyes.”
Both teams thought the game was an up-and-down affair because of the large amount of penalties that interrupted the play of the game. Both teams ended the game with 13 penalties and 26 penalty minutes.
“I think it’s a good experience,” Vizenor said. “We’ve got to learn what they’re calling. It’s up to us as individuals and each player to know that they’re not going to allow the stick stuff and we’ve got to react accordingly.”
Ohio State converted on three of nine power-play opportunities, while Minnesota State was only able to score on one of six opportunities. The Buckeyes scored their first goal at 15:51 on the power play, after junior right-winger Jana Harrigan slapped the puck past MSU freshman goaltender Brittni Kehler. The Mavericks rebounded in the second period with a goal at 6:41 by sophomore center Shera Vis to even the score at one apiece.
“It was hard to get into a flow in the game,” said Ohio State head coach Jackie Barto. “I thought our special teams did a great job with three power play goals. You’ve got to just react to the situation out there, and I thought we did a great job tonight.”
MSU will look to rebound as they host Minnesota-Duluth Friday and Saturday at All Seasons Arena. Ohio State returns home to host Wisconsin Friday and Saturday at the OSU Ice Rink in Columbus, Ohio.
