MINNEAPOLIS – Top-ranked Ohio State cruised to a 5-0 win over No. 8 Minnesota Duluth in the opening game of the 2024 Kwik Trip WCHA Final Faceoff on Friday afternoon at Ridder Arena.
The Buckeyes (32-3-0) received goals from five different skaters and multi-point efforts from Emma Peschel (1g-1a), Joy Dunne (1g-1a), Jenna Buglioni (2a), Jenn Gardiner (2a), and Sloane Matthews (2a) in the win.
“I’m very proud of the team tonight,” Ohio State head coach and 2024 WCHA Coach of the Year Nadine Muzerall said. “Getting five goals on any team in this league, especially when it’s playoffs and everybody is playing their best, is impressive, but the zero on the board is just as impressive as winning 5-0. Give a lot of credit to (Raygan) Kirk.”
“I think we were relentless on the puck and made nice plays,” Muzerall continued. “We played as a unit of five in the offensive zone and a unit of six defensively. Credit to Minnesota Duluth though. They’re always a tough opponent and well coached.”
In a battle of two of the nation’s top goaltenders, Ohio State’s Raygan Kirk earned a 17-save shutout. The Buckeye netminder is a top-three finalist for the 2024 HCA National Goaltender of the Year Award. For UMD, goaltender Hailey MacLeod led the Bulldogs (20-13-4) with 39 saves. The Buckeyes outshot UMD, 44-17, for the game.
Ohio State jumped to a 2-0 lead midway through the first period as Dunne and Kiara Zanon scored a pair of goals just 44 seconds apart. The Buckeyes also held off the Bulldogs on a power play late in the period to take the two-goal lead into the first intermission.
“It was a tough game, obviously, for us. I actually thought our first period was probably our best, even though we were down 2-0,” Minnesota Duluth head coach Maura Crowell said. “We had some good looks in the first, and we didn’t find the back of the net. Credit OSU for having a good game. Kirk played really well and kept them in there. I thought we could have gotten one on our power play there, but she made some unbelievable saves around the net to keep us off the scoreboard.”
The Buckeyes doubled their lead in the second period with goals from Peschel and Makenna Webster, and Olivia Mobley found the back of the net in the third to seal the 5-0 win.
“Something our team does really well is bring a lot of energy,” Gardiner said. “I think that always cheering for each other and bringing each other up next to us—that’s something that led to a lot of success. There’s a ton of excitement to have a trophy on the line and have the opportunity to play in this tournament.”
Both teams held their opponent scoreless on the power play as Ohio State went 0-for-1 and UMD was 0-for-2 with the skater advantage.
With the win, the Buckeyes advance to the Kwik Trip WCHA Final Faceoff championship game where they will face the winner of Friday’s second semifinal matchup between No. 2 Wisconsin (31-5-0) against No. 5 Minnesota (27-8-2). Puck drop is set for 2 p.m. Saturday at Ridder Arena, and tickets are on sale now through the Gopher Athletics Ticket Office.
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For more information about the Kwik Trip WCHA Final Faceoff, refer to
www.wcha.com/finalfaceoff.