Senior Taylor Kuehl scored the game’s final two goals to gain Ohio State a 3-3 tie at Minnesota.
“We dug ourselves a hole; certainly needed to grind our way back,” Ohio State coach Nate Handrahan said. “I thought our girls battled really hard in the third period and certainly made sure we got the next one and didn’t create an opportunity for them to extend their lead.”
Kuehl now has nine goals on the season for the Buckeyes (14-10-3, 9-9-3-1 WCHA); five have come in the three games versus the Gophers (23-1-4, 16-1-4-2 WCHA).
“For a player like Taylor, coming back into her home state and playing in front of a great crowd and her family and friends, it’s not a shock that she comes out and plays well,” Handrahan said. “Hopefully, she’ll be doing it again tomorrow.”
The crowd of 2,340 saw Minnesota win the shootout after a scoreless overtime to gain the extra point in the WCHA standings when Hannah Brandt, Milica McMillen, and Dani Cameranesi converted their attempts, as did Kuehl for OSU.
“I thought Ohio State battled and competed for the full 65 minutes; I thought we did that in spurts,” Gophers coach Brad Frost said. “When you win the shootout, you feel like you’ve kind of won the game. You certainly feel better than if you were to lose the shootout, and we certainly know what that feels like. But at the same time, we gave up a two-goal lead there, so there’s some hollowness to it as well.”
Minnesota holds a seven-point lead over second-place Wisconsin in the WCHA standings.
Down 3-1 in the second period, Kuehl took a pass from Sara Schmitt while on a power play and put the puck behind a screened Amanda Leveille.
The score didn’t change for more than 24 minutes of action. Skating four-on-four, Kuehl used another screen to knot the score with 3:16 remaining in regulation time.
The Buckeyes have scored eight goals in three games against the country’s second-best defense.
“If we forecheck hard, we can turn the puck over and get shots,” Schmitt said. “It’s really just getting chances, and the more chances you get, the greater the likelihood that you’re going to score.”
Schmitt’s sister Kari assisted on both of Kuehl’s goals.
Both teams got on the board quickly. Meghan Lorence buried the rebound of a Kelly Pannek shot 90 seconds into the game, but Danielle Gagne sniped a reply at 2:46 for Ohio State.
“You don’t want to give one up in the first two [minutes] or the last two,” Handrahan said. “To answer the bell there right after, to get one, that was obviously big.”
Gagne was assessed a major and a game misconduct for a check from behind within a minute. Kara Gust followed her to the penalty box, and Lee Stecklein converted on the five-on-three power play to put Minnesota back in the lead.
Kara Piazza gave the Gophers a 3-1 second-period lead when she took a pass from Brook Garzone and fired a wrist shot upstairs. That was the end of the hosts’ offense, on a night where Frost said he was never comfortable.
“I felt like every time we had possession of the puck, they had a couple people on us,” Frost said. “It was easier for them to win battles because there were two of them. We just left our puck support tonight all over the rink.”
The series concludes with a quick turnaround at 2:07 p.m.
