The Ohio State University’s women’s ice hockey team celebrates after winning the NCAA Frozen Four.
photo: Ohio State Athletics
The Ohio State University won their first national title in women’s hockey in their first ever appearance in the championship game. The Buckeyes surrendered leads of 1-0 and 2-1 to the University of Minnesota-Duluth, but Kenzie Hauswirth scored the winner with only 6:40 remaining in regulation time. Hauswirth fired a pass in front of the Bulldogs’ net, but it bounced off the skate of Brenna Fuhrman and past goalie Emma Soderberg.
"I just believed in these girls so much, as they did in each other, and I thought this was one of the best hockey games they played all year," Ohio State coach Nadine Muzerall enthused. "They’re so deserving of it, and they never quit. They played flawlessly tonight. I'm so proud of them."
Muzerall has been with the Buckeyes for five years, taking the team from relative obscurity to the highest peak. She has recruited a roster that is now chock full of players known to international hockey fans.
Finnish defender Eve Savander won a bronze medal at the 2015 Women’s Worlds and also played at three WW18 tournaments, 2014-16. Sara Sakkinen also played at those same three WW18 events and won bronze at both the 2017 Women’s Worlds and the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang. Andrea Braendli, meanwhile, was Switzerland’s number-one goalie at last month’s Olympics in Beijing.
Another goalie, Canada’s Raygan Kirk, was the WW18 MVP in 2019, leading her team to gold. Teagan Grant and Jennifer Gardiner were also members of that team. Another Canadian, 20-year-old Jenna Buglioni, won silver at the 2020 WW18.
American Hadley Hartmetz won gold at the 2018 WW18 and silver a year later, and Madison Bizal was also on that victorious team in 2018. Clair DeGeorge won gold with the U.S. at the 2018 women’s U18, and Lauren Bernard won silver in 2019.
The game was scoreless through 20 minutes, but Ohio got on the board early in the second on the power play. It came off a turnover behind Soderberg’s goal, and Paetyn Levis got to the loose puck in front and hit the empty net. But the Bulldogs got that one back eight minutes later when Naomi Rogge made a perfect tip of a Kailee Skinner shot that fooled goalie Amanda Thiele.
The third period was a repeat of the second. Ohio scored just 24 seconds after the faceoff when Soderberg skated well out of her net to get to a loose puck. She didn’t make it, falling in the process, and DeGeorge was right there to smack the puck in. Just 83 seconds later, the Bulldogs tied the score again. A bad turnover in the Ohio State end cost them when Elizabeth Giguere got the puck in the slot and wired a shot over the glove of Thiele.
The rest of the period was even until Hauswirth’s heroics, but even then UMD had plenty of time. The OSU defence, however, was letter perfect, and at the final buzzer players swarmed off the bench to mob Thiele and begin celebrations for an historic victory.
Muzzerall took the team to a record 32 wins this season and they entered the Frozen Four seeded #1, another first. Even more important, they backed that ranking up with three wins in a row during the final stages of the playoffs.
“I thought we did a great job getting after them fast in the first period and continuing to keep that pressure," Muzerall added. "I thought our transition game was excellent and that we did a great job with back pressure. And we scored when we needed to. Even though they counter-punched after each goal, we didn't quit, and I think that shows the sign of a champion."
The game capped an outstanding weekend of women’s hockey at the Pegula Ice Arena in University Park, Pennsylvania, and featured two of this year’s three finalists for the Patty Kazmaier Award facing off against each other. That is, Ohio State had senior defender Sophie Jaques going up against one of the NCAA’s top scorers, UMD’s Gabby Hughes. (The third finalist is Taylor Heise of the University of Minnesota. The winner will be announced 26 March.)
Minnesota-Duluth got to the finals after stunning #3-ranked Northeastern in the first semi-finals game on Friday, winning 2-1 in double overtime. Rogge was the hero for the Bulldogs, wiring a hard shot from the slot that slipped under the blocker arm of goalie Aerin Frankel at 18:15 of the fifth period. Frankel was the Kazmaier Award winner last season. Swedish goalie Emma Soderberg was sensational for UMD, stopping 46 of 47 shots. Recall, she was Sweden’s number-one goalie at last month’s Beijing Olympics, playing all but one period of the team’s five games.
In the later semi-finals, Ohio State defeated #5-ranked Yale, also by a 2-1 score. This marked the first time the Buckeyes had even won a game at the Frozen Four. UMD, meanwhile, was back in the finals for the first time in 12 years. UMD is coached by Maura Crowell who coached USA’s women’s U18 teams in 2019 (silver) and 2020 (gold).
"I just believed in these girls so much, as they did in each other, and I thought this was one of the best hockey games they played all year," Ohio State coach Nadine Muzerall enthused. "They’re so deserving of it, and they never quit. They played flawlessly tonight. I'm so proud of them."
Muzerall has been with the Buckeyes for five years, taking the team from relative obscurity to the highest peak. She has recruited a roster that is now chock full of players known to international hockey fans.
Finnish defender Eve Savander won a bronze medal at the 2015 Women’s Worlds and also played at three WW18 tournaments, 2014-16. Sara Sakkinen also played at those same three WW18 events and won bronze at both the 2017 Women’s Worlds and the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang. Andrea Braendli, meanwhile, was Switzerland’s number-one goalie at last month’s Olympics in Beijing.
Another goalie, Canada’s Raygan Kirk, was the WW18 MVP in 2019, leading her team to gold. Teagan Grant and Jennifer Gardiner were also members of that team. Another Canadian, 20-year-old Jenna Buglioni, won silver at the 2020 WW18.
American Hadley Hartmetz won gold at the 2018 WW18 and silver a year later, and Madison Bizal was also on that victorious team in 2018. Clair DeGeorge won gold with the U.S. at the 2018 women’s U18, and Lauren Bernard won silver in 2019.
The game was scoreless through 20 minutes, but Ohio got on the board early in the second on the power play. It came off a turnover behind Soderberg’s goal, and Paetyn Levis got to the loose puck in front and hit the empty net. But the Bulldogs got that one back eight minutes later when Naomi Rogge made a perfect tip of a Kailee Skinner shot that fooled goalie Amanda Thiele.
The third period was a repeat of the second. Ohio scored just 24 seconds after the faceoff when Soderberg skated well out of her net to get to a loose puck. She didn’t make it, falling in the process, and DeGeorge was right there to smack the puck in. Just 83 seconds later, the Bulldogs tied the score again. A bad turnover in the Ohio State end cost them when Elizabeth Giguere got the puck in the slot and wired a shot over the glove of Thiele.
The rest of the period was even until Hauswirth’s heroics, but even then UMD had plenty of time. The OSU defence, however, was letter perfect, and at the final buzzer players swarmed off the bench to mob Thiele and begin celebrations for an historic victory.
Muzzerall took the team to a record 32 wins this season and they entered the Frozen Four seeded #1, another first. Even more important, they backed that ranking up with three wins in a row during the final stages of the playoffs.
“I thought we did a great job getting after them fast in the first period and continuing to keep that pressure," Muzerall added. "I thought our transition game was excellent and that we did a great job with back pressure. And we scored when we needed to. Even though they counter-punched after each goal, we didn't quit, and I think that shows the sign of a champion."
The game capped an outstanding weekend of women’s hockey at the Pegula Ice Arena in University Park, Pennsylvania, and featured two of this year’s three finalists for the Patty Kazmaier Award facing off against each other. That is, Ohio State had senior defender Sophie Jaques going up against one of the NCAA’s top scorers, UMD’s Gabby Hughes. (The third finalist is Taylor Heise of the University of Minnesota. The winner will be announced 26 March.)
Minnesota-Duluth got to the finals after stunning #3-ranked Northeastern in the first semi-finals game on Friday, winning 2-1 in double overtime. Rogge was the hero for the Bulldogs, wiring a hard shot from the slot that slipped under the blocker arm of goalie Aerin Frankel at 18:15 of the fifth period. Frankel was the Kazmaier Award winner last season. Swedish goalie Emma Soderberg was sensational for UMD, stopping 46 of 47 shots. Recall, she was Sweden’s number-one goalie at last month’s Beijing Olympics, playing all but one period of the team’s five games.
In the later semi-finals, Ohio State defeated #5-ranked Yale, also by a 2-1 score. This marked the first time the Buckeyes had even won a game at the Frozen Four. UMD, meanwhile, was back in the finals for the first time in 12 years. UMD is coached by Maura Crowell who coached USA’s women’s U18 teams in 2019 (silver) and 2020 (gold).