MINNEAPOLIS — Coming into Friday night, the last time that Ohio State defeated Minnesota, the Buckeyes were led by Olympians Tessa Bonhomme and Lisa Chesson, and another future Olympian, Natalie Spooner, had yet to don the scarlet and gray.
“I didn’t know how long it had been,” winning coach Nadine Muzerall said. “I didn’t know if they had ever beat the Gophers straight up.”
One can forgive her for being unaware of a previous win that took place 10 years ago this month, but she’ll likely remember her first win over her alma mater and previous team as a coach for far longer, as Ohio State (3-0-0, 1-0-0-0 WCHA) triumphed, 3-2, over the fourth-ranked Gophers.
A couple of transfer students provided the scoring, with former Union player Jacyn Reeves tallying twice in the game’s first four minutes and Charly Dahlquist, who came to Columbus via North Dakota, scoring the game-winner at 7:22 of the third period.
Reeves served notice 2:06 into the contest that it would not be business as usual, going in alone and beating Alex Gulstene high.
“They spread their D a little too wide and she found the seam,” Muzerall said. “That was a [great] pass by a freshman from Minnesota, Liz Schepers. She gave it up to Jacyn who is just lightning fast and capitalized on a real nice shot.”
Reeves banged home another goal on her next shift, and Minnesota (1-2-0, 0-1-0-0 WCHA) was in trouble, until it rallied just past the game’s midpoint.
“Got the possession and hit Alex [Woken] in the corner, and got to my spot in the slot,” Gophers junior Sophie Skarzynski said. “She hit me and popped that one in the net. I think it was a big goal for us.”
Freshman Grace Zumwinkle soon tied it at 2-2 from nearly the same spot on the doorstep, scoring a power-play goal for the third straight game.
“That’s where you’ve got to be mentally tough,” Muzerall said. “I know, obviously, with the relationship I have with the Gophers that they’re a second-period team. I knew that they weren’t going to go away easy, especially at home.”
Just when it looked like the Gophers would claim a victory, as they have so often against the Buckeyes, Dahlquist’s shot from a bad angle hit a sliding defender and caromed in.
“That was an unlucky bounce, but Ohio State scored more than us, so at the end of the day, they got the win,” Skarzynski said. “We’ve just got to recover here and bounce back and get ready for tomorrow, because they’re going to come back even more fired up than they were today.”
Kassidy Sauve made 26 saves to preserve the win.
