Three times Minnesota-Duluth this season has won games that were tied entering the final two minutes, and all three times it was captain Caroline Ouellette who scored the game-winner. The latest occasion was Ouellette’s tremendous top-corner deflection from Jessica Koizumi with 36 seconds left to lift No. 3 UMD to a 3-2 victory over Ohio State on Saturday night.
Ohio State (10-9-1, 9-9-0 WCHA) gave UMD (15-1-2, 13-1-2) a much stiffer challenge than Friday’s 8-3 defeat thanks largely to the goaltending efforts of goalie Erika Vanderveer, who stopped 35 of 38 UMD shots. OSU actually led 1-0 at 6:30 of the first period this time around on an unassisted goal by Lisa Chesson after she intercepted a UMD clearing attempt.
The usual suspects gave UMD a 2-1 on the power play in the second period. Ouellette redirected a slapshot from the point at 8:48 of the second to tie the game 1-1. Sophomore Jessica Koizumi finished on a back door feed from Ouellette for a 2-1 lead just over six minutes later.
OSU leading scorer Jana Harrigan tied the game 1:31 into the third period when she stripped the puck from UMD defenseman Rachel Drazan and went in alone on the breakaway. UMD sophomore Riitta Schaublin stifled the Bulldogs the rest of the way and made 20 saves on 22 shots for the day.
Ohio State continues its home stretch with a series against Yale next week. UMD plays a critical series at No. 4 Wisconsin. The Bulldogs swept the Badgers earlier this season.
