Maverick women’s hockey unable to upend No. 6 OSU

Minnesota State fought hard and led both games, but Ohio State roared back

The women’s hockey team lost both of their matchups this past weekend on their trip to Columbus, Ohio against the No. 6 Ohio State Buckeyes.

Brittyn Fleming scored her first collegiate goal and goaltender Katie Bidulka made a career-high 40 saves, but Minnesota State suffered a 2-1 setback at No. 6 Ohio State in Western Collegiate Hockey Association play on Friday evening at the OSU Ice Rink.

Fleming scored the only goal of the first 20:00, the first of her collegiate career, to put Minnesota State up 1-0 at the first intermission. With time running out in the period, Fleming scored on a wraparound at the 19:50 mark. Junior forward Emily Antony tallied her second assist of the season on the play. Shots were even at 8-8 in the period.

However, the Mavericks were unable to score again and the Buckeyes (8-2-1, 6-2-1-1 WCHA) scored one goal in both the second and third periods to hand the Mavericks the 2-1 loss. Lauren Spring tied the game 1-1 at 17:49 of the second period and Maddy Field scored the game-winning goal at 14:54 of the third to defeat the Mavericks.

The next game on Saturday night, Jordan Jackson tallied a career-high two points, but Minnesota State women’s hockey dropped its Western Collegiate Hockey Association series finale against No. 6 Ohio State, 5-3, on Saturday afternoon at OSU Ice Rink.

Jackson, a sophomore defenseman, played a role in each of Minnesota State’s first two goals as the Mavericks jumped out to a 2-0 lead over Ohio State. Jackson scored the Mavericks’ first goal at 5:01 of the first period on the power play and assisted on the Mavericks’ second goal scored by junior forward Jordan McLaughlin at 00:08 of the second period.

However, the Buckeyes scored the next two goals to tie the game at 2-2. Rebecca Freiburger and Lauren Boyle tallied the goals at 7:31 and 11:54 of the second period, respectively. As the game went on, the Buckeyes scored the final two goals of the game to make the final score 5-3. Emma Maltais of Ohio State scored the game-winning goal on the power play at 2:29 of the third period and Boyle tallied her second goal of the day at 16:57.

With the losses, Minnesota State’s record now stands at 2-9-1, 1-7-0-0 in the WCHA. The Mavericks will return to the ice against Minnesota Duluth in a two-game WCHA series on Friday and Saturday in Duluth, Minn.