2006-07 Women’s Hockey Season Outlook – Ohio State Buckeyes
10/9/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Ice Hockey
Oct. 9, 2006
With the majority of the Ohio State women’s hockey team returning, the 2006-07 season looks to combine veteran experience with youthful enthusiasm to make a run to the top of the WCHA standings as well as compete for the Buckeyes’ first NCAA appearance. Head coach Jackie Barto returns for her eighth year at the helm of the program with a career record of 172-183-34 in 12 years as a head coach.
OSU skated to a 13-18-5 record in 2005-06, stumbling at the end after a strong first half of the season. The Buckeyes finished fifth in the regular-season league standings with a 10-15-3 mark. In a tough WCHA season which included more parity than the conference had seen in years, Ohio State recorded impressive wins for the program, including two overtime victories against then-defending NCAA Champion Minnesota for the first series split with the Golden Gophers since the 2000-01 season. With a tie against Minnesota Duluth Feb. 4, the Buckeyes also snapped a nine-game losing streak to the Bulldogs.
FORWARDS
The Ohio State roster takes a hit offensively with the loss of Jana Harrigan, who completed her eligibility in 2005-06. Harrigan, a 2006 AHCA Second Team All-American as well as a Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award Top 10 Finalist, completed her career as the program’s all-time leading scorer. With the absence of Harrigan, who led the squad in scoring the last three seasons, the Buckeyes look for a new offensive force with many players on the verge of stepping into the role.
“This is the first year in a while that there’s not one person on our team that everyone is looking to generate a lot of offense,” Barto said. “Now everyone’s going to have to look within themselves to see how they are going to contribute to the team offensively. I truly believe that is a positive because you’re going to work harder and hold yourself more accountable in creating those scoring opportunities. We’re going to focus on our team play and it’ll bring out the positives in everyone and bring out the best in all the players. Jana was a tremendous player, but we relied on her to make that big play – and she did. And now we’re going to have to be more accountable as a team and play more team hockey. We have a lot of people who are in a position to step up. Hopefully there are three, four, five people who want to assume that role.” Junior Erin Keys is the highest-scoring forward returning for the 2006-07 season, making a leap as a sophomore to finish third on the team with 10 goals and 17 points. Senior Katie Maroney, a captain for the 2006-07 season, also took her game to another level as a junior, more than doubling her career goals by scoring nine last season, four of which were on the power play. Keys has the ability to score from all over the ice while Maroney has the size and grit to battle in front of the net.
Another player who had anything but a sophomore slump was Shelby Aldous, who tied with Maroney with 16 points. After netting just one goal her first year, Aldous notched eight as a sophomore, with a team-high four of them proving to be gamewinners. Sophomore Hayley Klassen, who was voted the team’s Most Outstanding Freshman, should continue to become comfortable in the scoring role and build on her eight goals and 15 points as a rookie. Junior Mallory Peckels is a consistent force every time she steps onto the ice. After recording 14 points as freshman and 12 as a sophomore, Peckels should continue to be a major factor for the Buckeyes’ offensive success.
Also returning to battle upfront are senior Krysta Skarda, junior Jody Heywood and sophomores Morgan Marziali and Olivia Antognoli. The Buckeyes welcome freshman forwards Raelyn LaRocque, Colleen Olson, Kristen Smith and Michele Tonnessen.
“Our goal here is that everyone steps up their game and we have production from committee versus one person,” Barto said. “Instead of looking for one person to produce, everyone’s going to be held accountable to so the things that are going to create goals – crash the net, shoot the puck, shoot to score, be creative offensively and just work hard to create scoring chances.”
DEFENSE
Ohio State has eight defensemen on its 2006-07 roster, including two seniors and two juniors. The defense will likely be the Buckeyes’ greatest strength – and an area that will factor in strongly with offense as well as two of the top three returning scorers are blueliners.
“A key to our offensive production will be utilizing all five players in the offensive zone and at point,” Barto said. “Whether it’s a shot from the point or they’re jumping in, the defensemen are going to be asked to help create offense. We don’t want to sacrifice our defensive play, but we have a lot of offensive creativity in our defensemen so they are going to be asked to be part of that offense.”
The team regains an important player this season in Tessa Bonhomme. Bonhomme redshirted the 2005-06 season while participating in the Canadian Centralization Program for the National Women’s Team in preparation for the 2006 Winter Olympics. While missing the final cut for the Olympic roster, she made her second appearance with the Canadian Under-22 Team, captaining the squad during an international tournament in Germany. This summer, Bonhomme was named to the U-22 team for the third time of her career.
Bonhomme’s return for her junior season only bolsters an already solid defensive corps for the Buckeyes. First Team All-WCHA honoree Amber Bowman will captain the team for the second year in a row, plays a critical role both offensively and defensively. Bowman is Ohio State’s top returning scorer with 27 points her junior season, 15 of which were on the power play. She finished sixth in nation in defenseman scoring and was third among WCHA blueliners.
Also returning as an offensive defensive force is junior Lisa Chesson. Chesson, who was Third Team All-WCHA, was one of the biggest surprises of the 2005-06 season with 14 assists and 17 points to finish sixth in the league in defenseman scoring. Both Chesson and Bowman are key members of Ohio State’s power play and penalty kill units.
The third offensive defenseman is sophomore Kelly Cahill, who totaled 12 points while appearing in just 19 games. Cahill is returning from an injury-plagued freshman campaign and should contribute even more with a full return to health. For a purely defensive defenseman, Ohio State turns to Lacey Schultz. A constant grinder, Schultz is a crucial defensive force for the Buckeyes and will co-captain the team with Bonhomme, Bowman and Maroney.
Megan Hostasek and Whitney Miller return for their sophomore campaigns after increasing improvements throughout their rookie seasons. Ohio State has one new member of the defensive unit in freshman Rachel Davis.
“Overall, we’re deep defensively,” Barto said. “We have a good mix of strong defensive defensemen and also some players who are going to create some offense from the blueline. The defensive position will be one that is competitive and a strength for us.”
GOALTENDING
The Buckeyes have plenty of experience between the pipes in senior Erika Vanderveer and sophomore Liana Bonanno. Vanderveer set two single season records for the Buckeyes as a junior, totaling 717 saves and a .912 save percentage. Overall, Vanderveer patrolled the OSU goal the majority of games in 2005-06, with 27 starts. She finished the season 9-12-5 with a 2.66 goals-against-average and two shutouts. Over the three seasons, she has compiled a career mark of 24-23-8 with a 2.76 GAA and .905 save percentage.
In her rookie season, Bonanno saw action in 12 games with nine starts. In her first career start, she shutdown then-No. 9 Princeton Nov. 12 in a 2-1 victory. Bonanno finished 4-6-0 and allowed 38 goals with 347 saves for a .901 percentage. She had a 3.62 GAA.
“We have a good tandem in Liana Bonanno and Erika Vanderveer,” Barto said. “Erika is coming into her senior year and is a goaltender who has excellent presence in the net. She’s athletic and quick, and is good down low with her feet with a strong glove. We’re looking really for her to finish her career off on a high note. Liana is a very good student of the game. She’s an intelligent, athletic goaltender who sees the ice well. Her experience as a goaltender her freshman year will make our goaltending for this season competitive, which will ultimately bring out the best in all of our goaltenders.”
Junior Jill Mauch rounds out Ohio State’s goaltending group. Although she has mainly competed in practice during her first two seasons, this year Mauch should see some time in net for the Buckeyes.
“Jill’s made a lot of progress in her first two seasons and we look for her to continue to grow and develop as a goaltender,” Barto said. “We believe she’ll better herself with every opportunity and strengthen our overall goaltending.”
SCHEDULE
Ohio State is a member of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, the toughest league in the college game. The Buckeyes will face each conference opponent twice, playing in 28 league games. After finishing fifth in 2005-06, OSU will be battling for a Top 4 finish in the league standings to gain the first-round home ice advantage in the WCHA Playoffs.
After opening with Northeastern Oct. 6-7, Ohio State jumps right into conference play hosting defending national champ Wisconsin in its first WCHA series. The Buckeyes look to capitalize on home ice, playing five of their first seven series at OSU Ice Rink. The team concludes the first half of the season with road series at Minnesota State (Nov. 24-25) and at Minnesota Duluth (Dec. 8-9). Ohio State opens its second-half of the season with a nonconference series at Princeton (Dec. 30-31), before seven-consecutive WCHA series to round out the season.
“The WCHA is the best conference in the country,” Barto said. “The sport has had six NCAA championships and all six have come from the league. Our first WCHA opponent is defending national champ Wisconsin, so we’ll have a challenge right off the get-go within the league. All eight teams are competitive and you have to be prepared for every game. We have to put an emphasis on being prepared both mentally and physically for each of our WCHA opponents and to work to see more success in league play.”
“With the league’s new playoff format, it’s so important to be in the Top 4 and secure home ice and host the first round series,” she added. “That is definitely a goal for our team. We have to be consistent throughout the course of the season with the strength of our league. The teams that earn home ice are the teams that separate themselves from start to finish.”
