Buckeyes vs. Bobcats in NCAA Bridgeport Regional Final

The Basics

• The Ohio State men’s hockey team will take on Quinnipiac in the NCAA Bridgeport Regional final for a spot in the 2023 NCAA Frozen Four.
• The No. 3 seed Buckeyes and No. 1 seed Bobcats will meet at 4 p.m. Sunday in Total Mortgage Arena in Bridgeport, Conn. The game will be televised by ESPN2, on ESPN+ and on Ohio State Radio.
• Ohio State is 21-15-3 on the year and was 11-11-2-0-0-1 in Big Ten play. Quinnipiac is 31-4-3 and won the ECAC with a 20-2-0-0-0-0 ledger.

Buckeye Notes to Know

• Ohio State is making the 10th NCAA appearance in program history and first since 2019. The squad is looking for its third Frozen Four trip, with the others in 1998 and 2018.
• In the Bridgeport Regional semifinal vs. Harvard Friday afternoon, the Buckeyes posted an 8-1 win. Ten Buckeyes had a point in the game, led by the line of Jake Wise, Cam Thiesing and Gustaf Westlund which combined for 10 points. Wise had four assists, Thiesing scored twice and added a helper and Westlund had a goal and two assists. Defensemen Cole McWard scored twice and his d-partner Mason Lohrei had a three-point outing (1g, 2a).
• Ohio State is 3-5-1 all-time against Quinnipiac, with the last series in October 2012 in Hamden, Conn.
• Ohio State is first nationally on the penalty kill (138/155, .890) and in shorthanded goals (10).
• Four Buckeyes earned All-Big Ten honors – Wise and Lohrei were named to the second team and Jakub Dobeš and Stephen Halliday were honorable mention choices.

Buckeyes in the NCAA Tourney

• Ohio State is making its 10th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, with two Frozen Four trips (1998, 2018).
• The squad has two stretches of three consecutive berths – 2003-05 and 2017-19 and also earned a spot in 1998, ’99 and ’09.
• The Buckeyes have been an at-large team all but one year. The squad won the 2004 CCHA Tournament to claim the league’s automatic bid that season.
• Two Buckeyes entered the weekend with NCAA Tournament game experience. Gustaf Westlund skated as a freshman for the Buckeyes in the 2019 loss to Minnesota Duluth and did not record a point. Jake Wise scored a goal against St. Cloud State in 2021 when he was playing for Boston University. Kamil Sadlocha was with the Buckeyes in 2018-19 but redshirted the season.
• Ohio State was 7-8-1 vs. 2023 NCAA Tournament teams in the regular season, with all 15 games against Big Ten teams (4-3-0 vs. Penn State, 2-2-1 vs. Michigan, 1-3-0 vs. Minnesota). The Buckeyes’ 16 games vs. NCAA Tournament teams ranked fourth, behind Michigan (18), Minnesota (17) and Penn State (17). The four Big Ten teams combined to outscored their opponents 36-4 in the first round of this year’s NCAA Tournament.
• The Buckeyes lost to Denver, 2-0, in 2019 in their last NCAA Tournament game in Fargo, N.D.
• The squad’s first trip was in 1998, when it defeated Yale and Michigan State (in 2OT) in the West Regional in Ann Arbor, Mich., to reach the NCAA Frozen Four, where it fell to Boston College in Boston.
• The Buckeyes returned in 1999, suffering a first-round loss in the East Regional to Maine, 4-2, in Worcester, Mass.
• In the three consecutive trips from 2003-05, Ohio State lost in the first round each time. The 2003 squad fell to Boston College 1-0 in Providence, R.I., and in 2004 the Buckeyes lost in overtime to Wisconsin by the same score in Albany, N.Y., in 2004. The 2005 team suffered a 3-2 loss to Cornell in Minneapolis.
• In 2009 the Buckeyes traveled to Manchester, N.H., falling to Boston University, 8-3.
• In 2017, Ohio State rallied to force overtime against eventual runner-up Minnesota Duluth in Fargo. The Bulldogs prevailed, 3-2, in the extra period.
• The 2018 squad topped Princeton (4-2) and Denver (5-1) in Allentown, Pa., to advance to the Frozen Four in St. Paul, Minn. That squad lost to the eventual champion UMD Bulldogs, 2-1.
• Buckeye head coach Steve Rohlik was the captain on Wisconsin’s 1990 NCAA Championship team.
• Buckeye assistant coach JB Bittner was on three Ohio State NCAA Tournament teams (2003-05). Volunteer goalie coach Dustin Carlson was on the Buckeyes’ 2009 NCAA Tournament squad.

Buckeyes vs. Bobcats

• Ohio State and Quinnipiac have met nine times, with the last a series on Bobcat home ice in October 2012.
• The Buckeyes trail the series, 3-5-1, and Sunday will be the first neutral site game between the teams.
• The Bobcats are the No. 2 overall seed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament and defeated Merrimack 5-0 in the regional semifinal.
• Quinnipiac is first nationally in team defense, allowing 1.55 goals a game, and in scoring margin (+2.39). The squad is third in the NCAA in scoring offense with 3.95 goals a game. The penalty kill is sixth nationally (.856) and the power play is 15th (.232). Collin Graf is fourth in points per game nationally (1.47) and goalie Yaniv Perets is first in goals-against average (1.47) and third in save percentage (.930).
• Ohio State did not face an ECAC member school during the 2022-23 regular season. The Buckeyes are now 3-1 vs. ECAC programs in the NCAA Tournament after a win over Harvard Friday.

Have a Game, NCAA Tourney Edition

• The Buckeyes defeated Harvard, 8-1, in the Bridgeport Regional semifinal Friday. It was the most goals for Ohio State in an NCAA Tournament game and is tied for the second-largest score margin in an NCAA regional contest all-time.
• The Buckeyes led 2-0 after the first period and 7-0 after the second. The squad outshot Harvard 40-22.
• Gustaf Westlund and Cam Thiesing scored six seconds apart in the second period, tying for the two-quickest goals in NCAA regional history.
• Jake Wise had a career-best four assists and points in the win over Harvard.
• Westlund, in his first game since October, had a three-point outing with a goal and two assists. It was his fourth career three-point game and first since Oct. 25, 2019 at Mercyhurst.
• Thiesing had three points with two goals and an assist. He leads the Buckeyes with 15 goals on the year, with three multiple-goal performances.
• Defenseman Cole McWard scored twice, including his fourth power play goal of the year. It was his first career multiple-goal outing.
• Blueliner Mason Lohrei had three points with a goal and two assists, his second career three-point outing and first since Jan. 1, 2022 vs. LIU.
• Patrick Guzzo and Joe Dunlap each had two points, with a goal and an assist, in the win.
• The five goals in the second matched the Buckeyes’ single-period high this year, first set at Michigan Jan. 13.