How it happened:
The teams skated to a scoreless tie in the first. Ohio State had one unsuccessful power play and outshot the Gophers 12-9 through the first 20 minutes.
In the second, a defensive breakdown at the blue line allowed Taylor Heise and Abigail Boreen to enter the zone with the puck. The Buckeye defenders focused on WCHA Player of the Year Taylor Heise, leaving Boreen free on the right side to beat Amanda Thiele and put Minnesota up 1-0.
In the final minute of the second, Olivia Knowles put a puck on net from the right faceoff dot. Payton Hemp was unmarked at the near post and able to tip the puck just past Thiele to give the Gophers a 2-0 lead at the second intermission.
Minnesota had 21 blocks through the first two periods.
Ohio State cut the lead in half 3:14 into the third. Gabby Rosenthal had the puck behind the Gopher net with no pressure. She slotted a pass forward to Lauren Bernard at the bottom of the right circle. Bernard one-timed it on net and Sara Saekkinen redirected it in.
They tied the game at the midway point of the period. Once again, the set up came from behind the net. Clair DeGeorge nabbed the puck from a scrum on the boards and fed Jaques, who was alone in the slot. Jaques went down on one knee to get the shot off. It hit Bench in the shoulder and popped up and into the net.
The Gophers thought they scored with about four minutes left in the game, but it was waved off and called no goal upon review. It came on the heels of an unsuccessful power play where Minnesota was getting looks close in on Thiele.
Olivia Knowles was sent to the box with just seconds left in regulation for body checking and Ohio State started the sudden death overtime with a player advantage.
The Buckeyes, who have the best power play unit in the country, needed just 23 seconds in the extra period to end the game. It was an unlucky play for Minnesota as Emily Brown won the puck along the back boards, but her clearing attempt ended up on Jaques’ stick at the left faceoff dot. Bench made the initial save, but the rebound came right back to Jaques and this time she lifted the puck to the top netting to beat Bench, who was down in her butterfly, and win the game.
Quotable:
Minnesota coach Brad Frost
It’s what you would expect from the best league in the country and two of the top teams in the country. We’ll learn from it. Fortunately, we’re playing next week, so we’re excited about that.
It took a little bit to get our feet going.
On Sophie Jaques: Her shot and her offensive instincts are really good, obviously. Their D as a whole, do a great job of shrinking the zone and getting to the tops of the circles, or lower and that’s how she scored tonight.
After they tied it, I was really proud of our team and how they came back. We had three or four glorious chances and Thiele made some great saves.
They’re the best team we’ve seen. For sure.
Gopher forward Taylor Heise
I have so much confidence in this team. We bounce back so hard from losses. We’re a dominant force.
Ohio State coach Nadine Muzerall
Kind of feels like a national championship. You have 1 and 2 in the country. You have two phenomenal teams.
Our philosophy doesn’t change. Playing relentless and playing aggressive with speed and fitness. That doesn’t change no matter who we play.
On getting an intermission to talk about the overtime power play: It came at a very good time. It’s just a very long timeout. Even if we didn’t have it, I would have felt comfortable, too. I would have trusted them.
On what she said to the team during the second intermission: I wanted more from them. I wanted them to want more from each other, as well. We didn’t play elite. You’re playing the number one team in the country and you want to win, you have to play better. You have to hold yourselves to a higher standard. I said we just need to get to one. If we can just get to one then it’ll change the whole course of the game. And they did that and they did it early, which was another important thing.
On whether or not they’ll receive the #1 overall seed: We’re just going to be happy to host and (have) that immense amount of pride of hosting the first NCAA regional tournament (at OSU).
Just think of where we were six years ago and in a very short span of time where we are now. I’m just very proud for all those kids that believed in what we were trying to do at OSU and bought in and came to the school.
Ohio State forward Liz Schepers
I couldn’t be more proud of our group. It speaks so much to who we have in our locker room and our culture and the way we believe in each other. We knew that if we could get on the board early in the third that we were really going to give ourselves a chance. We never felt like we were out of the game.
It’s a great feeling knowing we have one more home game, especially in my final season. I couldn’t be more excited to get back to Columbus and share that with our university. It says a lot about how far this program has come and and where we’re headed and what our goals are and the new standard of Ohio State hockey, so I couldn’t be more proud.
