One victory does not make a season, but sometimes it can salvage a season.
The Ohio State women’s ice hockey team split its weekend series with the Wisconsin Badgers, earning its first win of the season Saturday.
The victory was OSU’s first win over the Badgers since March 2000 and only the second in team history.
“We knew the first few series would be difficult,” junior goalie Melissa Glaser said. “We’re really going to use (this victory) to our advantage.
The early-season schedule has been rough for the Buckeyes. Matches against defending champions Minnesota-Duluth and WCHA leader Minnesota saw OSU heading winless into No. 6 Wisconsin.
“We’ve had six really tough games,” senior co-captain Erin O’Grady said.
The Buckeyes finally got the monkey off their backs by upsetting the Badgers 3-2. Senior forward Heather Farrell knocked a rebound past Wisconsin goalie Meghan Horras eight seconds into the game and OSU never looked back.
Junior defender Jaclyn Haines and freshman defender Tessa Bonhomme both scored their first career goals for the Buckeyes, and Glaser stopped a season-high 34 shots en route to the victory.
“That’s something positive that we can build off of,” Bonhomme said.
OSU came out fired up Sunday afternoon but could not complete the sweep of the Badgers. Wisconsin outshot the Buckeyes 32-24 and never trailed as they defeated OSU 3-1. Junior co-captain Meaghan Mulvaney tallied the lone Buckeye goal on a third period power play.
The Buckeyes have an off week this weekend and are looking to recover, regroup and come out hungry when they visit St. Cloud State.
“We’re just looking to build off the weekend and hope to stay focused,” O’Grady said.
The team took two days off then began doing drills again yesterday. The approach the Buckeyes seem to be taking is that of “back to basics.” The players looked like they were near exhaustion after practice yesterday, but there was something glowing behind their weary exteriors: confidence.
“We have to work on all the little things that we need to improve on,” Bonhomme said.
Glaser also spoke of the changes the team needs to make before the next series.
“We need to take care of some of the little things, like the power play and the penalty-killing unit,” Glaser said.
The Buckeyes are now 1-5-0 in the WCHA. The team will travel to Minnesota Nov. 14-15 to take on St. Cloud State.
“When you look at our schedule compared to anyone else’s, you’ll see that we’ve played the top teams,” Glaser said. “We’re really going to use it to our advantage against St. Cloud.”
