Ohio State came out with a more intense and physical game Sunday and got another brilliant performance from junior goaltender Erika Vanderveer to shut out North Dakota 2-0 and complete a weekend sweep.
“I thought our energy was better, we made a couple of adjustments and just played a lot better,” said OSU coach Jackie Barto.
After a scoreless first period, OSU (13-14-5, 10-13-3 WCHA) made good on a breakaway by sophomore Erin Keys, who took a pass from freshman Hayley
Klassen and came in all alone on UND senior goalie Amber Hasbargen and top-cornered the puck glove side for the eventual game-winner at 6:26 of the frame.
“Keys brought it across the blue line with her skate and just drove through and picked the corner, and we know she’s able to score those type of goals and she made a good read on the goalie and picked her spot,” Barto said.
The Buckeyes’ other goal came just over two minutes after the first goal when senior Crystal Sather scored her first goal of the year through traffic in front of Hasbargen.
Vanderveer was perfect in making 34 saves and preserving the shutout on all five of the Fighting Sioux’s power plays. She made some diving, acrobatic saves late in the second period with UND (7-23-2, 3-21-2 WCHA) on the power play that drew many cheers from her bench.
“She’s great, she’s been great all year, she’s coming through in the clutch, especially now at the end of the season,” said Keys of Vanderveer.
“I felt like [Vanderveer] was seeing the puck in today and was in good control of her rebounds,” said Barto.
Vanderveer finished the weekend with 69 saves and only three goals against in the sweep.
“I was focused the whole game and my team was more organized in the defensive zone and that gave more confidence to me that they’d take care of the puck,” Vanderveer said.
For the Sioux, Hasbargen made 31 saves in a solid effort. UND’s senior class was honored before and after the game as the first group of freshman women to wear the Sioux hockey jersey.
“Ohio came out a different team than yesterday — they played a very physical game and it worked for them,” said UND coach Shantel Rivard. “We were up and down today.”
UND closes out the regular season against Minnesota next weekend, while OSU hosts league champion Wisconsin.
