Buckeyes Hit The Ice In 2000-01 Home Opener – Ohio State Buckeyes
10/9/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Ice Hockey
Oct. 9, 2000
%^$COLUMBUS, Ohio–The Ohio State women’s ice hockey team (0-0-0, 0-0-0 WCHA) returns 13 of 19 letterwinners in hopes of building on an 8-26-3 overall record and a third-place conference finish in its inaugural season.%^$The Buckeyes officially open their second season at 2:05 p.m. Sunday against Findlay (0-0-0, 0-0-0 GLWHL) in a non-conference game at the OSU Ice Arena.%^$
%^$SCOUTING FINDLAY
%^$Adam Brinker enters his second year at the helm of an Oiler team that is in its second season of varsity competition. In preseason action last weekend, the Oilers soundly defeated Windsor in a two-game series, 9-1 and 9-2. Melissa Oliver and Nikki Work each recorded a hat trick Friday.%^$
%^$Despite the loss of top defender Pernilla Burholm, a 10-year veteran of the Swedish national team, Findlay returns 14 letterwinners. Co-captain Melissa Oliver led the Oilers’ offensive attack last season as a freshman with 30 goals and 25 assists for 55 points. The goaltending tandem of Erin Blair (12-7-2, 2.47 gaa) and Nickie Kelly return for a second season between the pipes for the Oilers.%^$
%^$Findlay joined the newly-formed Great Lakes Women’s Hockey League (GLWHL) this season following an impressive 20-11-2 inaugural campaign as an independent.%^$
%^$THE BUCKEYES VS. THE OILERS-THE SERIES
%^$The Buckeyes are 0-2 overall against the Oilers and are looking to avenge a pair of close losses (3-2, 5-2). These two teams last met Nov. 7, 1999 in Findlay at the Clauss Ice Arena.%^$
%^$THE BUCKEYES VS. THE OILERS-LAST YEAR
%^$Corinne Rosen and Lindsey Ogren lead OSU in total points against Findlay with three each. Rosen tallied two goals in the first game of the series and Ogren notched an assist. Ogren recorded the first multiple-goal game of her career in the second game and Rosen added an assist.%^$
%^$HEAD COACH JACKIE BARTO
%^$Jackie Barto enters her second season at the helm of the Ohio State women’s ice hockey program. She was named the first head coach in the program’s history Dec. 14, 1998. Barto led the squad to an 8-26-3 overall record and a 6-15-3 WCHA conference finish in its inaugural season last year. In addition, she coached the Buckeyes in their first-ever postseason tournament, the Western Collegiate Hockey Association Championship. There, the No. 5-seeded Buckeyes upset higher seeds No. 4 St. Cloud and No. 3 Wisconsin to claim third place.%^$
%^$Barto came to Ohio State from Providence College, where she was the head coach of the Friars for five years. Under Barto’s guidance, the PC women’s hockey program flourished, compiling a record of 70-53-10 in her four years at the helm.%^$
%^$TORONTO EXHIBITION RECAP
%^$OSU skated to a 3-0 victory over the Toronto Varsity Blues in an exhibition game Oct. 7 at the OSU Ice Arena.%^$
%^$The Buckeyes jumped to an early lead at 6:07 in the first period and never looked back. OSU right wing Shana Frost scored twice and Emma Laaksonen added three assists in the victory.%^$
%^$Corinne Rosen extended OSU’s lead to 3-0 at 8:21 in the second period.%^$
%^$Ohio State outshot the Varsity Blues, 30-22, and goalie April Stojak saved all 22 Blues shots.%^$
%^$FIRST “GOAL” RELEASED
%^$The Buckeyes scored first and early (6:07 into the first period) against Toronto. Coach Barto was pleased with her Buckeyes’ effort and said scoring first will be a goal for the team this season.%^$
%^$”Our key focus in practice has been our work ethic, and I feel that we carried that over to the ice,” Barto said. “We executed our systems well. Scoring the first goal was very important, and that will be our goal this season. Developing our confidence at this point in the season also is very important and I feel that we have done that.”%^$
%^$FINNISH FLASH
%^$Freshman defender Emma Laaksonen (pronounced lak-SAN-en) started for the Buckeyes against Toronto. The Espoo, Findland native wasted no time making herself at home in her first collegiate game, assisting on all three OSU goals.%^$
%^$Laaksonen won an Olympic bronze medal at Nagano, Japan in 1998 as a member of the Finnish National Team and also won a bronze medal as a member of Team Finland at the 2000 World Championships, where she was honored as the best defenseman of her team. From 1997-99, she competed in the Three Nations Cup for Team Finland.%^$
%^$Jeanne Chapple was the other freshman to start for Ohio State in the exhibition game.%^$
%^$GLASER GROUNDED
%^$Melissa Glaser, Buckeye captain and starting goalie, underwent reconstructive surgery Oct. 10 to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her left knee. She will sit out the 2000-01 season with a medical redshirt.%^$
%^$CAPTAINS ANNOUNCED
%^$Corinne Rosen, Lindsey Ogren, Melissa Glaser and Emily Hudak have been named captains for the 2000-01 season.%^$
%^$Rosen enters her second year as a Buckeye captain. She led the team in multiple categories last season, including goals (16), assists (17) and points (33). Named the team’s Most Valuable Offensive Player, Rosen also earned WCHA Player of the Week honors for the week of Feb. 21.%^$
%^$Ogren played in all 37 Buckeye games last season and finished third on the team in scoring with 10 goals and five assists, equaling 15 points. She also scored the first goal in OSU women’s hockey program history Oct. 9 versus Northeastern. Ogren was named WCHA Rookie of the Week Oct. 25 and WCHA Player of the Week Dec. 13 and was the lone member of the Buckeye squad to earn a spot on the inaugural WCHA All-Tournament Team.%^$
%^$Glaser appeared in 21 games between the pipes last season and averaged 26.4 saves per game. She also carried a 3.20 goals against average and a .895 save percentage. This summer, she participated in the 2000 U.S. Hockey Festival in Lake Placid, where she earned a spot on the U.S.A. Women’s Under-22 National team.%^$
%^$Hudak led the Buckeye defense in goals (6) and assists (6) last season and led the entire team in shots on goal with 143. She received team’s Most Valuable Freshman award and participated in the 2000 U.S. Hockey Festival in Lake Placid.%^$
%^$NEXT UP FOR THE BUCKEYES
%^$Ohio State travels to Minneapolis, Minn. next weekend. The Buckeyes battle the Minnesota Golden Gophers at 2:05 p.m. Saturday and at 2:05 p.m. Sunday. Both games will be played at Mariucci Arena.
