Women’s Hockey Finishes Inaugural Season on a High Note – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/15/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Ice Hockey
March 15, 2000
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio State women’s hockey team closed out its inaugural 1999-00 campaign in impressive fashion. The first-year Buckeyes finished the regular season tied for fourth place in the WCHA standings with a 6-15-3 record to earn the No. 5 seed in the first-ever WCHA Championships. The Buckeyes knocked off No. 4-seed St. Cloud in the quarterfinals, but fell to No. 1-seed Minnesota-Duluth in the semifinal round. The loss sent them to the third place consolation game to face No. 3-seed Wisconsin. Ohio State stunned the Badgers with a 4-2 upset to claim third place. Freshman Lindsey Ogren had an outstanding tournament which earned her a spot on the WCHA All-Tournament Team. She finished the tourney with three goals and one assist for four points, including the game-winning tally against St. Cloud State.
THE TOURNAMENT RESULTS
Quarterfinals
(2) Minnesota 10 vs. (7) MSU, Mankato 0
(3) Wisconsin 9 vs. (6) Bemidji State 2
(4) St. Cloud 2 vs. (5) Ohio State 3
Semifinals
(2) Minnesota 5 vs. (3) Wisconsin 0
(1) Minnesota-Duluth 7 vs. (5) Ohio State 1
Third Place Game
(3) Wisconsin 2 vs. (5) Ohio State 4
Championship Game
(1) Minnesota-Duluth 2 vs. (2) Minnesota 0
WCHA All-TOURNEY TEAM
Freshman forward Lindsey Ogren was honored for her superb play in the WCHA Championships by being named to the all-tournament team. Over half of the players honored consisted of underclassmen. The complete team is as follows:
Erica Killewald, Jr., G, Minnesota
Tracy Engstrom, So., F, Minnesota
Jenny Schmidgall, So., F, UMD
Lindsey Ogren, Fr., F, Ohio State
Winnd Brodt, Jr., D, Minnesota
Brittny Ralph, Jr., D, UMD
MVP: Tuula Puputti, Fr., G, UMD
WCHA AWARDS
The WCHA honored its outstanding members with end of the season awards voted on by conference head coaches, institutional representatives and sports information directors. Similar to the all-tournament team, the underclassmen in the league swept the majority of the awards. Player of the Year
Jenny Schmidgall, So., F, UMD
WCHA Student-Athlete of theYear
Katie Beauduy, Fr., G, Mankato
Shannon Kennedy, Sr., F, Minnesota
Defensive Player of the Year
Winny Brodt, Jr, D, Minnesota
Rookie of the Year
Maria Rooth, Fr., F, UMD
Coach of the Year
Shannon Miller, UMD
CAREER MILESTONES REACHED
Over the course of the 1999-00 season a couple of career milestones were reached. OSU head coach Jackie Barto reached her 90th career win against St. Cloud with a 3-2 win in the quarterfinal round of the WCHA Championships. Junior center Corinne Rosen also reached a career milestone. She played in her 100th-career game against St. Cloud during the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 26.
ALWAYS A LEADER
In addition to reaching her 100th game, captain Corinne Rosen more than earned her title this season. The junior forward led the Buckeyes in multiple categories, including goals (16), assists (17), points (33) and power-play goals (6). She notched a team-high three shorthanded goals which ranked her tied for third in the WCHA and tied for fifth nationally. She also led the team in multiple-point games with eight.
NOT SHYING AWAY
Just because the Buckeyes played in their first-ever regular season as a varsity sport, that in no way means their schedule was easy. The first-year Buckeyes were matched up against six teams that were nationally ranked at some point during the season. Those teams included Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference women’s hockey powerhouses such as Northeastern, New Hampshire, Princeton, and St. Lawrence and WCHA foes Minnesota-Duluth and Minnesota.
LAST LINE OF DEFENSE
Goalies Melissa Glaser and April Stojak were both a source of strength for the Buckeyes in the net this season. While in goal, both turned in superb performances. Glaser appeared in 21 games and finished the season with a 3.20 goals against average and an .895 save percentage. She averaged 26.4 saves per game and earned a 4-16-0 overall record. Stojak appeared in 17 games. She finished with a 3.49 overall GAA and an .883 save percentage. She carried a 2.75 GAA and a .901 save percentage against conference opponents. Stojak averaged 26 saves per game and tallied a 4-10-3 overall mark.
PENALTY KILLERS
OSU ended the season with the third-best overall penalty kill percentage in the WCHA at 87.2 percent. The Buckeyes killed 205 of 235 opponent power play opportunities, which ranked them 10th in the nation.
CONSISTENT PERFORMERS
Nine players participated in all 37 OSU games this season: Corinne Rosen, Shana Frost, Lindsey Ogren, Emily Hudak, Katie Frohreich, Melissa Pirie, Lindsey Steblen, Mickenzie Stensland and Melissa Tower. Lori Zielinski appeared in all but one game.
PLAYING WITH A LEAD
The Buckeyes were not successful this year when they fell behind their opponents in the game. However, when they got on top, even by a slim margin, it gave them something to fight for. Seven of the Buckeyes’ eight wins and two of the three ties came when they were playing with a lead.
GIANT KILLER
One of the biggest highlights for the Buckeyes this season was when they earned the title of “Giant Killer” Jan. 28 with an impressive 1-1 overtime tie with UMD. It marked the first win or tie over a nationally ranked team in the program’s history. Freshman goalie April Stojak stopped an incredible career-high 53-of-54 Bulldog shots to register a brilliant .981 save percentage. Stojak held UMD, the then-No. 1 scoring offense in the nation who then-averaged 7.11 goals per game, scoreless for the first 54:08 of play.
WCHA AWARDS
The Buckeys earned five WCHA Player or Rookie of the Week honors during the regular season, tied with Minnesota-Duluth for the second-most of any teams in the WCHA. Minnesota and Wisconsin led the way with six.
Oct. 25 Player of the Week- Shana Frost
Oct. 25- Rookie of the Week- Lindsey Ogren
Dec. 13 Player of the Week- Lindsey Ogren
Feb. 1 Rookie of the Week- April Stojak
Feb. 21 Player of the Week- Corinne Rosen
FAN FARE
The OSU Ice Arena was a good home for the Buckeyes in their first year. The Buckeyes averaged 258 fans per game, which ranked them No. 10 in the nation for national attendance and fourth in the WCHA. Minnesota led the WCHA and the nation with a 1,121 average attendance.
LONE SENIOR
Jennifer Bradbury was the lone senior on the Buckeye inaugural squad and will become the first-ever women’s hockey alumnus. She was honored in the Buckeyes’ last regular-season home game on Saturday, Feb. 26. Bradbury was an important part of the women’s hockey program. She brought tremendous senior leadership and a strong work ethic to the squad.
KYLEE READE SAYS GOODBYE
Kylee Reade, one of just a handful of two-varsity sport athletes at Ohio State, hung up her ice skates after the Saturday, Feb. 19 game against MSU, Mankato. Reade, a defender, co-captained the women’s hockey team in its inaugural season and enters her second year with the women’s lacrosse team this spring. After evaluating the year of being a two-sport athlete, Reade decided she wanted to focus her attention solely on lacrosse to prepare to try out for the Canadian national team.
NCAA GIVES APPROVAL FOR 2001 CHAMPIONSHIP
The NCAA announced Jan. 18 during the Jan. 9-10 NCAA convention in San Diego, Calif., its membership adopted legislation to establish an official championship in women’s ice hockey, effective with the 2000-01 season. The specific format and field size of the championship has not yet been determined. The American Women’s College Hockey Alliance, currently conducts championships at the Divisions I and III levels.
CAPTAINS
Corinne Rosen was captain for the 1999-00 season. Defenseman Katie Frohreich was assistant captain. Rosen, a native of Milwaukee, Wisc., followed her former coach from Providence College where she competed for two years to Ohio State. Frohreich, from Baudette, Minn., was the assistant captain of the Minnesota Thoroughbreds where she led them to a state championship.
