Ohio State
Minnesota
No. 2 Minnesota Tops Ohio State, 3-1, in Series Finale – Ohio State Buckeyes
12/11/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Ice Hockey
Dec. 11, 2011
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State women’s hockey team closed out the first half of the season with a 3-1 loss to No. 2 Minnesota at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis, Minn., in the second game of the WCHA series.
The loss dropped the Buckeyes to 9-7-2 overall and 6-7-1-1 in conference competition, while the Golden Gophers moved to 17-3-0 and 11-3-0 in the WCHA.
Minnesota struck first with an even-strength goal at 6:06 in the opening period. Megan Bozek found the back of the net with assists going to Amanda Kessel and Jen Schoullis. The score was the lone goal of the first period and the Gophers went into the first intermission with the 1-0 advantage.
The home team put another goal on the board early in the second period, scoring at 1:50 when Schoullis shot the puck past Buckeye goalie Lisa Steffes. The assists were credited to Emily West and Bozek.
Ohio State cut Minnesota’s lead to one at late in the second when Laura McIntosh scored at 13:01. The goal was the seventh of the season for the Waterloo, Ontario, product. Helping her out on the goal was classmate and assistant captain Natalie Spooner.
The two squads went into the final intermission with Minnesota holding a 2-1 lead.
Both teams were on the defensive strike in the final period and did not allow a goal thought most of the stanza. Ohio State pulled Steffes at 18:43 and the Gophers capitalized on the empty net with their final goal at 19:23 by Kessel.
Minnesota led Ohio State in shots 33-20 and had a 28-24 advantage in faceoffs.
Ohio State takes nearly three weeks off before returning to the ice for the second half of the season. The Buckeyes next host Princeton, Dec. 30-31, at the OSU Ice Rink. Games begin at 2:07 p.m. and 12:07 p.m., respectively.
