Ohio State then-junior forward Jennifer Gardiner (12) looks for an open teammate during the Ohio State-St. Cloud State game Feb. 25, 2022. Ohio State won 6-0. Credit: Mackenzie Shanklin | Lantern File Photo
History was made on the ice Friday night.
The No. 1 Ohio State Women’s Ice Hockey Team (18-2-0, 15-1-0 WCHA) surpassed its biggest win against No. 2 Minnesota (16-5-1, 10-5-1-1 WCHA) in Buckeye history before completing the sweep with a 6-1 victory Saturday.
Freshman forward Joy Dunne’s hat trick propelled the Buckeyes, as her three goals helped lead the team to a dominating 7-0 victory at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis Friday.
The shutout surpassed the Buckeyes’ 7-1 victory from Jan. 12, 2007, as the program’s largest marginal win against the Golden Gophers.
A first period offensive explosion put Ohio State in the driver’s seat Friday night, as the Buckeyes led 4-0 going into the first intermission, with goals from graduate forward Kenzie Hauswirth, graduate forward Hannah Bilka and two scores from Dunne.
The onslaught continued in the second period as Dunne found the top right corner of Minnesota goaltender Skylar Vetter’s net to complete her hat trick. Bilka scored her second goal of the game at the end of the second period before senior forward Olivia Mobley’s third-period goal capped off the 7-0 win.
The Buckeyes picked up right where they left off in the second period of Saturday’s game, when they followed a scoreless first period with a five-score effort.
After graduate forward Jennifer Gardiner said special teams would be crucial heading into the series, she and Bilka provided momentum-shifting powerplay goals in the second period, while sophomore forward Sloane Matthews, senior defenseman Lauren Bernard and sophomore defenseman Emma Peschel scored at even strength.
Graduate defenseman Hadley Hartmetz scored the final goal of the series with under two minutes left in Saturday’s game. The Buckeyes outshot Minnesota 33-20 on Friday and 39-18 on Saturday.
Senior goaltender Raygan Kirk held the Gophers scoreless for 107 consecutive minutes before giving up her first goal of the series to Minnesota forward Madison Kaiser in the third period of Saturday’s game. Kirk finished the weekend with 37 saves.
The Buckeyes return to the ice Friday to host No. 7 Minnesota Duluth for another top-10 conference series.
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