Women's Hockey: Buckeyes Sweep First Conference Series

            Ohio State made known its prowess in the WCHA last weekend, notching a pair of road victories in its first conference series of the season. In two games, the Buckeyes swept Minnesota Duluth, improved their overall record to 4-0, and moved to tenth in the USCHO.com Division 1 Women’s Poll.

           

Ohio State 3, Minnesota Duluth 1

           

            The Scarlet and Gray opened the scoring early when Kayla Sullivan lit the lamp 55 seconds into the game.

            Later in the period, captain Hokey Langan scored to give the Buckeyes a 2-0 advantage and give herself a better chance of leaving the team with her name in the record books. Langan’s goal was the 47^th of her career and tied her for fifth all-time in goals scored at Ohio State.

            Senior forward Katie Wilson eventually put the home team on the board midway through the first to cut the Buckeyes lead in half.

            Neither team found the back of the net in the middle period, though Paige Semenza was able to score once in the third to cement Ohio State’s first road-win of the season.

            Buckeye goaltender Chelsea Knapp followed her impressive season opener against Lindenwood with 16 saves in her first meeting against Duluth.          

Ohio State 3, Minnesota Duluth 2

           

            Mintuu Tuominen timed her first goals of the season perfectly as her two tallies helped the visiting Buckeyes sidestep a date with revenge. The Bulldogs, though desperate to avenge their loss on Friday night, were unable to stop Tuominen’s late-game heroics.

            Unlike Friday night, Duluth did not wait for the Buckeyes to make the first move. Jessica Wong gave the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead only 15 seconds into the first period.

            The quick goal roused Ohio State and gave the squad energy to secure a lead before 20 minutes passed. First, forward Taylor Kuehl recorded her second goal of the season, then 12 minutes into the frame Tuominen scored on the powerplay to five the Buckeyes a 2-1 lead.

            Shortly into the third period the Bulldogs evened the score; however, Duluth could not add another goal to earn a home victory.

            With nearly three minutes remaining in regulation, Tuominen made it 3-2 with help from her teammates Paige Semenza and Kari Schmitt. The score would hold to give Ohio State a 2-0-conference record heading into a tough weekend series against No. 6 ranked North Dakota.