Ohio State
Bemidji St
Ohio State Earns 5-3 WCHA Road Win at No. 9 Bemidji State – Ohio State Buckeyes
1/13/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Ice Hockey
Jan. 13, 2012
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Three Buckeyes put together multiple-point performances as the Ohio State women’s hockey team topped No. 9 Bemidji State, 5-3, at the Sanford Center in Bemidji, Minn., Friday night. Senior Natalie Spooner had two goals and two assists, while sophomore Ally Tarr scored twice and senior Laura McIntosh dished out a pair of assists.
The multi-point game was the eighth of the season for Spooner and the seventh for McIntosh. The two goals marked the fifth time this season Spooner has scored two or more goals in a game.
Sophomore goalie Lisa Steffes totaled 29 saves to improve to 8-5-0, while Bemidji State’s Zuzana Tomcikova had 25 saves in the loss.
The Buckeyes (11-8-4, 8-8-1-1 WCHA) struck first, scoring early in the opening stanza. Junior Minttu Tuominen scored her second goal of the season at 2:17 to give Ohio State a 1-0 advantage. She was assisted by seniors Kelly Wild and Melissa Feste.
Ohio State went on its first power play on a Beaver checking penalty at 14:25. Twenty-four second later, Tarr notched her first goal of the evening with assists to McIntosh and Spooner. The power-play goal was Tarr’s fifth of the season.
The Beavers (13-9-2, 7-9-1 WCHA) didn’t let up and went into the first intermission down 2-1 as Natasha Kostenko scored an unassisted goal at 19:46.
Tarr struck early in the second, scoring the lone goal of period at 1:47. The score was the 12th of the season for the London, Ontario, product. Spooner was credited with the assist, her 11th of the season.
The two teams skated close throughout the first half of the third period, not seeing a score until 12:50. A checking penalty on freshman Sara Schmitt gave Bemidji State its third power play of the period, but the disadvantage didn’t matter as Spooner scored a short-handed goal to give Ohio State a three-goal lead at 4-1.
The Beavers scored a pair of goals late in the period to cut the Buckeye lead to one. Emily Erickson found the back of the net at 15:08 with assists to Marlee Wheelhouse and Montana Vichorek. The team’s third goal came from Mackenzie Thurston at 17:07 to bring the score to 4-3 in favor of the Buckeyes.
BSU pulled Tomcikova with less than a minute to play, but Ohio State didn’t falter as Spooner scored an empty net goal at 19:40 with McIntosh earning the assist. The goal was the 20th of the season for Spooner, marking the fourth 20-goal season of her career.
The Beavers edged Ohio State in shots, 32-30, and in face-offs, 31-27.
The teams return to the Sanford Center Saturday for the final game of the series. Puck drops at 8:07 p.m. with live stats available at BSUBeavers.com.
