Women’s hockey stumbles at Ohio State

It has already been over a week since the Minnesota State women’s hockey team has seen the ice, and it was definitely a nice break before the team heads back into action versus St. Thomas this upcoming weekend.

It was an unfortunate series of events for the Mavericks as they headed east to Columbus, in which the team was given the news that both their starting goaltenders would be unable to play due to injury. 

After searching for a viable replacement for a tough series against No. 2 Ohio State, the Mavs landed on freshman Avery Stilwell, a three-sport athlete from Litchfeild, Minn, who is also no the Minnesota State women’s tennis team. 

Stilwell found herself on the lineup chart for the first time this season against the number two team in the nation. 

A tough task was definitely ahead for the freshman goaltender, but Stilwell stood her ground.

As game one went underway in Columbus, the Mavericks were able to get on the board first as Kennedy Bobyck buried the first goal of the game at 12:18 in the first period. 

Unfortunately for the Mavs, they were unable to hold onto their lead for long, as Ohio State was able to get two goals in the waning minutes of the period.

The remaining two periods of the game were similar territory for MSU, as they were held off by the No. 2 team in the nation despite two third period goals. 

OSU was able to take down the Mavericks 6-3 in game one, while Stilwell’s first career start for the Mavericks collected her 45 saves on 51 shots.

Game two did not go as planned for the Mavs, after hoping to bounce back after a tough loss the night before. 

Ohio State came out swinging and showed no mercy to the banged up Mavericks team.

It was a prove it game for the Buckeyes, who definitely made sure their No. 2 ranking would be held up with a dominant win. 

They did just that, scoring four goals in the opening period of game one and did not stop there.

The Buckeyes finished the game with a 9-0 shutout over the Mavs, peppering the Maverick net for the second night in the row with 48 shots. 

Clair DeGeorge and Jenna Buglioni both got on the board twice for Ohio State in the win, while Buckeye goaltender Amanda Thiele collected her first career shutout.

Minnesota State heads back home falling to 5-9 overall on the season and drops to 1-9 in WCHA play after starting the year off 5-1. 

This is the eighth straight loss for the struggling Mavericks team, and they get a chance to bounce back against a similarly struggling St. Thomas team this weekend, followed by St. Cloud State and Bemidji State before heading into the new year.

Feature photo by Kirk Irwin / Ohio State Athletics