Ohio State will join two other teams from the WCHA on Thursday as the college women’s ice hockey season reaches its crescendo at the 2021 Frozen Four, which is taking place this year at the Erie Insurance Arena in Erie, Pa.
The third-seeded Buckeyes will meet a familiar foe in the national semifinals: second-seeded Wisconsin. The Buckeyes and Badgers just squared off 10 days ago in the championship game of the WCHA Final Faceoff. It will be the sixth meeting this season between the two teams.
Briefly on the Buckeyes
A Win on Thursday would…
Three WCHA Teams in the Frozen Four
Three-quarters of the 2021 Frozen Four field is from the WCHA: second-seeded Wisconsin, third-seeded Ohio State and fifth-seeded Minnesota Duluth. It’s the second time that the league has had three national semifinalists (2009 was the other time). The league has had at least two Frozen Four participants seven years in a row and in 15 of the last 20 tournaments.
Buckeyes and Badgers Once Again
Four of the previous five meetings this season between Ohio State and Wisconsin have been decided by one goal and two of them have gone into overtime (each team has won one of those contests). The Badgers took the most recent meeting, a 3-2 overtime decision in the WCHA Final Faceoff title game on March 7.
Ohio State is 7-7-3 against Wisconsin in the last 17 meetings. The Buckeyes knocked off the than-No. 1-ranked Badgers in Columbus on Nov. 27 and again in Madison on Jan. 9.
Generating Chances
In its Tuesday quarterfinal win, Ohio State outshot Boston College 43-8 over the second and third periods. For the season, Ohio State has a +279 shot advantage against its opponents, the third-highest mark in the country.
Playing the Best
Fifteen of Ohio State’s 19 games this season have come against teams that were ranked in the top seven nationally. The Buckeyes are 9-6 in those games with two wins over Wisconsin, two over Minnesota Duluth, four against Minnesota and one against Boston College.