No. 9/10 Ohio State Welcomes No. 8/10 Minnesota for First Home Series – Ohio State Buckeyes
10/18/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Ice Hockey
Buckeyes face Minnesota Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. at the OSU Ice Rink
COLUMBUS, Ohio The No. 9/10 Ohio State women’s hockey team Ohio State welcomes No. 8/10 Minnesota to the OSU Ice Rink to open the 2007-08 home schedule. Games begin at 7:07 p.m. both Friday and Saturday. The Buckeyes are coming off a tie with two-time defending NCAA champion Wisconsin Sunday and are 1-2-1 overall (0-1-1 Western Collegiate Hockey Association). The Golden Gophers are 0-1-1 in conference play as well after facing St. Cloud State last weekend and are 2-1-1 overall.
KEEPING AN EYE ON THINGS
Live scoring for both of Ohio State-Minnesota games is available at the official Web site of Ohio State athletics, www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com. Links to both live scoring and live video are available on the women’s hockey schedule page.
ON SITE
This week, the women’s hockey team makes several appearances on www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com. Head coach Jackie Barto and junior forward Morgan Marziali recorded video interviews about the upcoming Minnesota series recapping the team’s series with No. 1 Wisconsin last weekend.
Senior forward Erin Keys held a Web chat Wednesday, answering fans’ questions submitted to the site (a transcript of the chat is available on the women’s hockey page). She also is featured in the “Wednesday Wake Up Call with T.J. Downing”, talking about the team’s rivalry with the Golden Gophers and previewing the series.
CHESSON ON U.S. SELECT TEAM
Senior defenseman Lisa Chesson has been named to the 2007 U.S. Women’s Select Team, USA Hockey announced Tuesday. Chesson will compete with Team USA in the Four Nations Cup, Nov. 7-11 in Leksand, Sweden, against the national teams from Canada, Sweden and Finland. In August, Chesson became just the second Buckeye to be named to the U.S. Under-22 Team. She is the first student-athlete in Ohio State women’s hockey history to be named to the U.S. Women’s Select Team.
The U.S. Women’s Select team is a 22-player roster that includes eight Olympians. Fourteen of its members won silver at the 2007 World Women’s Championship hosted by the International Ice Hockey Federation. Team USA will be coached by Jackie Barto, Ohio State head coach. She will lead the squad in November as well as the 2008 Women’s World Championship in April.
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN GOPHERS
Minnesota is 2-1-1 overall and ranked No. 8 in the USA Today/USA Hockey poll and No. 10 in the USCHO poll. After winning their first two games of the season, the Golden Gophers tied Friday (4-4) and lost Saturday (2-1) in a WCHA home-and-home series with St. Cloud State last weekend.
Leading Minnesota in scoring is Erica McKenzie with six points and five goals. Gigi Marvin has a team-high four assists as 15 of 18 UM skaters have recorded at least one point. In net with two starts each are Kim Hanlon and Jenny Lura. Hanlon is 1-0-1with a 3.37 goals-against average and .860 save percentage. Lura is 1-1-0 with a 2.00 GAA and .902 save percentage.
SERIES HISTORY
Although Minnesota leads the all-time series 28-7-1, the Buckeyes and Golden Gophers have split their last four series. Last season at the OSU Ice Rink, Minnesota won 4-1 in the first game, before the Buckeyes came back in game two for a 2-1 victory (Oct. 28). The win sparked a program-record 10-game unbeaten streak for Ohio State. In Minneapolis, the Buckeyes recorded their largest victory ever against Minnesota in a 7-1 win (Jan. 12), but fell the following game, 3-1.
Leading the Buckeyes in scoring against the Gophers are Tessa Bonhomme (3-58) and Erin Keys (5-38). Just behind them is senior defenseman Lisa Chesson with seven points (1g, 6a).
ROAD WARRIORS
After opening the 2007-08 season with two road series, the Buckeyes remain in Columbus this weekend to host Minnesota in a WCHA series. Ohio State played at Connecticut (Oct. 5-6) and at No. 1 Wisconsin (Oct. 13-14). The Buckeyes return to the road next weekend when they travel to Grand Forks to play North Dakota (Oct. 26-27). The schedule will flip in November, though, when Ohio State hosts three of four series.
LAST TIME OUT
Ohio State opened WCHA play with a series at No. 1 Wisconsin, Oct. 13-14. The Buckeyes tied the Badgers by a score of 2-2 in overtime Sunday, after falling to them 4-0 Saturday. The tie Sunday snapped Ohio State’s losing streak to Wisconsin at 12 games. It also marked the end of the Badgers’ win streak at 17 games.
Scoring for the OSU Sunday were senior forward Erin Keys and freshman defenseman Shannon Reilly. Keys recorded her team-leading third goal of the season while Reilly’s lamplighter was her first career point as a Buckeye. Senior defenseman Tessa Bonhomme assisted on both OSU goals Sunday, increasing her season point total to six to lead the team. She also has the most assists with four.
NOTING THE WISCONSIN SERIES
* Ohio State held the Badgers scoreless in the second period of the Sunday matchup just the second time UW has been held without a goal in a period all season.
* The tie was the sixth in the all-time series between OSU and UW. The Buckeyes have tied the Badgers more than any other opponent.
* In the second period of the second game, the Buckeyes scored twice for a 2-1 lead. It was the first time Wisconsin had trailed in a game since Feb. 9, 2007. The Buckeyes were the last team to lead the Badgers, with a 2-0 score in the first period of that game in Madison.
BRAVO BONANNO
Junior goaltender Liana Bonanno made a total of 63 saves in the two Wisconsin games. With six goals allowed she had a .905 save percentage in the series. She stopped 33 shots Saturday and 30 on Sunday for the 11th and 12th games of her career with 30 or more saves. In her 23 career games, she has made an average of 26.3 saves per game.
SHUT THEM DOWN
The Ohio State penalty kill was 9-for-11 against Wisconsin, giving the Badgers an 18 percent power play on the weekend. UW entered the series with a power play operating at 35 percent (7-of-20).
IN THE POLLS
Ohio State moved up one place to No. 9 in the U.S. College Hockey Online poll (released Oct. 15). The Buckeyes received 21 points, edging No. 10 Minnesota by two points. OSU remains No. 10 with 30 points in the USA Today/USA Hockey poll (released Oct. 16). Dartmouth is ninth with 38 points.
COUNTDOWN TO 200
Head coach Jackie Barto is nearing a milestone in her 13th season of coaching, needing just seven wins to reach the 200-victory mark. She has a career record is 193-198-39, including a 123-145-29 mark at Ohio State. Barto, the first and only head coach of the Ohio State women’s ice hockey team, is in her ninth season at the helm of the Buckeyes. In 2006-07, four Buckeyes were named to All-WCHA teams and Tessa Bonhomme became Ohio State’s third All-American. Barto reached her 100th Ohio State win Jan. 28, 2006, vs. Minnesota at the OSU Ice Rink. Prior to Ohio State, she spent five years coaching at Providence College.
MOVING ON UP
Senior defenseman Tessa Bonhomme assisted on both OSU goals Sunday at Wisconsin, increasing her season point total to six to lead the team. She also has the most assists with four. With the two points, Bonhomme increased her career total to 89. She trails former Buckeye All-American Emma Laaksonen (2001-04) who is second in defenseman scoring with 99. Last season, Amber Bowman set the OSU blueliner record with 102 career points.
Her two helpers increased Bonhomme’s career assist total to 61, moving her to fifth all-time. She surpassed Jeni Creary (2002-05) and is just five assists away from Laaksonen in fourth with 65.
WE HAVE A CONNECTION
The senior trio of Tessa Bonhomme, Erin Keys and Mallory Peckels has combined to score three of OSU’s seven goals this season, most recently scoring the first Buckeye goal Sunday at Wisconsin. Bonhomme leads the team in points (6) and assists (4) while Keys’ three goals is a Buckeye high.
LEADING THE WAY
Senior defenseman Tessa Bonhomme was voted team captain for the 2007-08 season, announced at the team banquet in the spring. Along with three seniors, Bonhomme was one of four captains in 2006-07. Wearing the A’ for the Buckeyes this season is a trio of seniors in forwards Jody Heywood and Mallory Peckels and defenseman Lisa Chesson. It is the first OSU captain honor for all three.
LOOKING BACK
The Buckeyes are coming off their best season in the eight-year program history. In 2006-07, they reached the 20-win mark for the first time and finished the year with a 20-13-4 overall record. OSU also had a record 30 points in league standings with a 13-11-4 mark to finish fourth in the WCHA. Ohio State earned home ice for the first time under the conference’s new postseason playoff format and eventually advanced to the WCHA semifinals in Minneapolis. OSU was No. 10 in both of the final polls for USCHO and USA Today.
BUCKEYES PICKED FOURTH IN WCHA
Ohio State has been picked to finish fourth in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, the league announced Sept. 25. In a poll of the eight head coaches taken by the WCHA, the Buckeyes received 31 points, six points behind No. 3 Minnesota. Two-time defending NCAA champion Wisconsin is No. 1 with 49 points and seven first-place votes, followed by Minnesota Duluth in second with 42 votes and one first-place vote.
UP NEXT
The Buckeyes will hit the road once again, traveling to Grand Forks to take on the Fighting Sioux of North Dakota, Oct. 26-27. Games begin at 7:07 p.m. (CT) Friday and 4:07 p.m. Saturday. Ohio State will return to the OSU Ice Rink, Nov. 2-3, when it welcomes Bemidji State for a league series.
