U women falter late in loss to OSU

WOMEN’S COLLEGE HOCKEY >> BUCKEYES 7, GOPHERS 3

Buckeyes score in final minute of second period, and then add four more in third

Minnesota’s Ella Huber gets tangled with a group of Ohio State players, including Emma Peschel (7), Jocelyn Amos (17) and goaltender Amanda Thiele during the No. 2 Buckeyes’ 7-3 victory over No. 3 Minnesota on Saturday at Ridder Arena. BRAD REMPEL — COURTESY OF GOPHERS ATHLETICS

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By Dean Spiros

Special to the Pioneer Press

The Gophers women’s hockey team held a 3-2 lead over Ohio State late in the second period Saturday afternoon at Ridder Arena when Gophers coach Brad Frost elected to call a timeout.

One got the sense that the final 1:48 of the period was going to be huge, that keeping the lead heading into the final period would go a long way in allowing the Gophers to complete the weekend sweep of the defending national champions.

That instinct proved correct. The Buckeyes tied the game at 19:09 of the second period and scored four more times in the third period as Minnesota lost a penalty-filled, 7-3 game that split the weekend series.

“We were in good shape,” Frost said, “and then it got away pretty quickly.”

Frost said the primary reason he called the timeout was to get some fresh legs on the ice. But, indeed, the point was made that the Gophers needed to do everything they could to retain the lead heading into the final 20 minutes.

Gophers senior right winger Peyton Hemp’s second goal of the game gave the Gophers the 3-2 lead at 14:15 of the second period. It proved to be the last hurrah for the Gophers.

“I just feel like stuff wasn’t going our way,” Hemp said of the deciding stretch of the game. “I felt like the whole weekend, we were pretty steady and doing all the little things right. But sometimes it doesn’t bounce your way, and it happened to us a lot today.

“We all really wanted the sweep. It would have been huge for us.”

After going down rather quietly on Friday, the Buckeyes had a lot more fire in their game on Saturday.

“We dictated a lot more (Friday) night,” Frost said, “and they dictated a lot more tonight, as good teams tend to do.”

The Gophers (22-6-1, 16-5-1 WCHA) scored the only goal of the first period, with Emma Connor picking up her third of the season with the game less than two minutes old. The Buckeyes (21-6-3, 15-6-3) got on the board at 1:13 of the second period on the first of three goals in the game by Plymouth native Sloane Matthews.

Matthews’ third goal of the game was the pivotal one, tying the game at 3-3. The Buckeyes scored three times in the first five minutes of the third period, all on the power play.

“Penalties never helps us,” Hemp said. “It’s one of our biggest things we have to keep on the lockdown.”

There were 20 minor penalties called in the game, along with a 10-minute misconduct given to the Gophers’ Abbey Murphy in a particularly chippy third period. Frost was less than pleased with the way the game was called by the referees.

“I haven’t seen something like that in a long time,” he said. “It was a good hockey game until all hell broke loose. There were three or four times this weekend we were on the power play and they evened it up.

“I know it’s hard to referee two really good physical women’s hockey teams. I know they’re doing their best, but it’s just unfortunate the way things turned out in the third.”

The Gophers, who saw their winning streak end at seven games, were on the highest of highs after Friday’s win. Now, they need to find a way to bounce back from a disappointing loss.

“As a coach, in the back of your mind, if we can get a split on the weekend against another top team, it’s going to be great,” Frost said. “But when you win the first one, you want the second one so bad.

“It’s easy to dwell on this the whole week, but we don’t have time to do it and we’re not gonna.”

Up next is a pair of games on the road against No. 1 Wisconsin.