Ohio State Set for Top Five Tilt vs. Penn State

No. 2 Ohio State vs. No. 4 Penn State
Date: Jan. 2/3, 2026
Time: 6 p.m./3:30 p.m.
Venue: OSU Ice Rink – Columbus, Ohio
Watch: B1G+/FOX9+
Live Stats: OhioStateBuckeyes.com

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 2 Ohio State women's hockey team begins the new year with a top five matchup against No. 4 Penn State in Columbus. The Buckeyes (15-3-0, 11-3-0 WCHA) and Nittany Lions (18-1-0, 12-0-0 AHA) meet at 6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 2 and 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 3.

The games will be streamed on the B1G+ (subscription required) all weekend. Saturday's game will also be carried on FOX9+ in Minnesota, Chicago and Houston as well as locally on ESYX-DT2 6.2 The Nest. The games will be streamed on B1G+ (subscription required) and live stats can be found on OhioStateBuckeyes.com.

Buckeyes in a Nutshell

Ohio State's series against Penn State this weekend marks the first games for the team in 27 days. The Buckeyes' last series was against No. 1 Wisconsin at home Dec. 5-6.
This weekend is also Ohio State's final non-conference series of the regular season. While both the Buckeyes are Nittany Lions are from Big Ten Conference institutions, the teams play for the Western Collegiate Hockey Association and Atlantic Hockey America conferences, respectively. Ohio State is the only Big Ten school with women's hockey to play every Big Ten women's hockey team this season in Penn State, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Ohio State holds at second in both national polls entering the second half of the season with 279 points in the USCHO.com poll and 266 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll.
The team is ranked top five nationally in points (202), goals (83), assists (119), scoring margin (2.67), scoring offense (4.61), faceoff win percentage (.606) and win percentage (.833).
Ohio State is home to two of the top scoring players in the NCAA this season. Joy Dunne and Hilda Svensson are two of just seven players in the country to hit the 30-point mark. Svensson has recorded a team-high 33 points while Dunne is at 30 for the year. Svensson leads rookies nationally in every scoring category. Dunne is third nationally in goals per game (1.06).
Ten players are scoring in double figures for the Buckeyes through the first 18 games of the season. Sanni Vanhanen joins Svensson and Dunne with double digit goals (10).
During the December break, the Buckeyes' European players competed in the final stop of the 2025 Women's Euro Hockey Tour. Vanhanen helped Finland win the overall tournament with a 6-2-0 record in the eight games played since August. Svensson, Mira Jungaker and Jenna Raunio helped Sweden tie for the win in the final leg of the tour with six points and two wins in Finland. Svensson and Raunio scored for the Three Crowns.
Hailey MacLeod leads the goaltending unit with 11 games played and started this season. She has a .900 save percentage,1.90 goals against average and two shutouts on the year for a 9-2-0 record.
Ohio State is six wins shy of 500 in program history. The team is 494-392-82 all-time. Nadine Muzerall is the program's winningest coach with a 239-82-22 record as the Buckeyes' bench boss.

Series History – Buckeyes vs. Nittany Lions

The matchup between Ohio State and Penn State this weekend is the first in series history since 2021.
The Buckeyes are 9-2-0 in the all-time series which started in 2014.
The teams have met all but one time in the first series of the New Year. The exception was the last meeting in the series, played Nov. 27 in the D1 in DC Tournament.
Ohio State has won its last two games against Penn State and owns a 4-2-0 record at home in the series.

Up Next
The Buckeyes hit the road to face No. 13 St. Cloud State Jan. 9-10 in St. Cloud, Minn. at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. Both games will be streamed on B1G+ (subscription required).

#GoBucks

Departments

Media

More

University

Information

Athletic Facilities

Athletics

The Team Shop

Get In The Game

Purchase Tickets

Purchase Tickets

Ticket Office

Resources

Schedules