10/21/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Ice Hockey
No. 9/10 Ohio State Buckeyes (4-0-0, 2-0-0 WCHA) vs.
No. 1/2 Wisconsin Badgers (4-0-0, 2-0-0 WCHA)
Friday, Oct. 22 – 7 p.m. (CT) • Saturday, Oct. 23 – 7 p.m. (CT)
Kohl Center • Madison, Wis.
Live video/audio: BigTenNetwork.com
Live stats: UWBadgers.com
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Links also available on the women’s hockey schedule page on OhioStateBuckeyes.com
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 9/10 Ohio State women’s hockey team travels to Madison for its first WCHA road test of the season at No. 1/2 Wisconsin, Oct. 22-23. Both teams enter the weekend undefeated with matching 4-0-0 records (2-0-0 WCHA). Games begin at 7 p.m. (CT) both Friday and Saturday at the Kohl Center. They also will be streamed live on BigTenNetwork.com.
BUCKEYES IN A NUTSHELL
Ohio State has tied is best start in team history by sweeping its first two series. The Buckeyes are led by junior assistant captains Laura McIntosh with 10 points and Natalie Spooner with nine points. Both have scored five goals. McIntosh also has five assists, followed by Spooner and sophomore Hokey Langan with four apiece.
Patrolling the OSU net is freshman Lisa Steffes, who has limited opponents to a single goal each game with a .951 save percentage.
LAST TIME OUT: ST. CLOUD STATE
The Buckeyes opened their home and WCHA schedule with a sweep of St. Cloud State, Oct. 15-16 at the OSU Ice Rink. Ohio State took the first game by a score of 3-1 Friday before a third-period outburst in a 6-1 win Saturday. Ohio State scored the first two goals in game one, but SCSU cut the score to 2-1 in the third period. Natalie Spooner sealed the win by scoring with just under 5 minutes remaining.
Laura McIntosh led the attack in game two, scoring a hat trick and adding two assists to tie the OSU record for points in a game. Spooner and Kelly Wild also had a goal and assist in the game and Hokey Langan tallied two assists as a total of nine Buckeyes had a point.
Series Notes:
• Ohio State regained the lead in the all-time series with the Huskies by a 24-23-6 edge. The Buckeyes had not swept SCSU since Oct. 7-8, 2005 in Columbus.
• Laura McIntosh become just the fifth Buckeye to have five points in a game. She joins Hokey Langan (vs. Bemidji State, Jan. 22, 2010), Tessa Bonhomme (vs. North Dakota Jan. 5, 2008), Emma Laaksonen and Kelli Halcisak (both vs. Wayne State, March 2, 2001).
• Senior defenseman Shannon Reilly has 14 points (3g, 11a) in 17 career games against St. Cloud State after scoring twice and adding an assist in the sweep.
BIG MAC
Laura McIntosh tied the Ohio State record for points in a game as she became just the fifth Buckeye to have five points in a game Saturday and added an assist Friday for a six-point series is the sweep of St. Cloud State.
After setting up the opening goal in the 3-1 victory the first game, McIntosh had an offensive outburst the second game with a hat trick and two assists. The junior assistant captain scored three of the first four goals for her second career hat trick. She then assisted on the last two goals for the 6-1 win.
MCINTOSH, ALLIS NAMED WCHA PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
For her outstanding play, Laura McIntosh and freshman defenseman Becky Allis earned WCHA Player of the Week awards,the league announced Wednesday. McIntosh picked up her first offensive player of the week award of her career while Allis was the second-consecutive Buckeye to be named rookie of the week.
Allis has quickly established herself as one of the top blueliners for the Buckeyes. She had an assist in each game against St. Cloud State for her first collegiate points. The West Olive, Mich., product set up the first goal in Ohio State’s 3-1 win Friday, then collected her second helper in the third OSU goal Saturday. Allis had the first assist on both goals.
THE SERIES VS. THE BADGERS
Ohio State defeated Wisconsin four times during the 2010-11 season (4-2-0) and five of their six meetings were decided by one goal. The teams split their regular-season games and the Buckeyes then swept the Badgers during the WCHA First Round Playoff series with two overtime wins. Before last season, Ohio State had just three total wins over Wisconsin in the previous 10 seasons and the Badgers lead the all-time series 39-7-6.
Hokey Langan scored six goals, including two third-period gamewinners, and had nine points in six games against the Badgers last season. Natalie Spooner has netted eight goals and 10 points in 12 career games vs. UW, while Laura McIntosh has set up 11 goals and totals 14 points in the all-time series.
A LOOK AT WISCONSIN
Despite being off last weekend, Wisconsin moved into the top spot in the USCHO.com poll and is second in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine rankings. The Badgers have allowed just one goal through four games this season, sweeping RPI (7-0 and 6-0) and Bemidji State (7-1 and 2-0), and play their first four series on home ice.
Leading UW in points is junior Hilary Knight with eight (5g, 3a), followed by freshman Brooke Ammerman with a 4-3-7 line. Junior Carolyne Prévost has scored a team-high six goals. Sophomore Becca Ruegsegger and freshman Alex Rigsby have split time in net with both starting two games.
OHIO STATE TIES BEST START, RANKED IN BOTH POLLS
The Buckeyes have swept their first two series of the season to tie for the program’s best start at 4-0-0. More impressively Ohio State is clicking on both ends of the ice, scoring 17 goals while limiting opponents to just one goal in each game.
For its great start to the season, Ohio State has been voted the No. 9 team in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll released Tuesday and earned the No. 10 spot in the U.S. College Hockey Online rankings released Monday. The Buckeyes are just a point away from ninth-ranked Harvard in the USCHO.com poll.
Along with the Buckeyes, teams from the Western Collegiate Hockey Association make up half of the ranked teams in each poll.
STEFFES STEPS UP
Freshman goalie Lisa Steffes improved to 4-0-0 after making 37 saves in the SCSU series. The Amherstburg, Ontario, native has limited opponents to a single goal in each game and has a .951 save percentage after stopping 77 of 81 shots faced. She was named WCHA Rookie of the Week Oct. 13 for her play against Robert Morris.
WE’RE GOING STREAKING
Natalie Spooner, Laura McIntosh and Hokey Langan have at least one point in each game this season. McIntosh has extended her point streak to 12 games, carrying it over from the end of the 2009-10 season. It is the third-longest streak in team history.
Spooner is on an eight-game point streak and has at least two points in each game this year. She also has a point in 18-consecutive series.
NEARING THE CENTURY CLUB
Laura McIntosh is only six points away from 100 after collecting 26 goals and 68 assists in 77 career games. Another Buckeye nearing the Century Club is Natalie Spooner, who has 83 points through 69 games.
Spooner also is climbing the career goal rankings, now in fourth with 48. McIntosh ranks fifth in career assists and is only three helpers away from fourth place.
UP NEXT
Ohio State returns home for a non-conference series against Syracuse, Oct. 29-30. Games begin at 7 p.m. Friday and 4 p.m. Saturday at the OSU Ice Rink and admission, as always, is free. This will be the first meeting between the two programs.
