The day after Thanksgiving is generally known as Black Friday, and unfortunately for the Ohio State women’s ice hockey team, every Friday as of late has been Black Friday.

For the second consecutive weekend the Buckeyes (14-10-4 overall, 9-9-4 WCHA) couldn’t hold onto a lead of at least two goals, falling Friday night to the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs 5-3 after leading 3-1 heading into the third period. The series finale against Minnesota-Duluth ended in a 1-1 tie Saturday night at the OSU Ice Rink, salvaging at least a point in the series.

Although the loss to the Bulldogs (16-7-2, 15-5-1), in front of a near-capacity crowd Friday, registered as one of the more devastating losses of the season, the team wasted no time putting the outcome behind them.

“Right off we decided that we were going to throw (the loss) out the window,” junior defenseman Lisa Chesson said. “We knew what we had to do (Saturday), and we came out strong.

“The past few years we haven’t gotten any points against Minnesota, Wisconsin or Duluth. We split (with Duluth) earlier in the year and got the point now, so we know what we can do.”

This somewhat disappointing weekend for the Buckeyes calls for the team captains to make their presence known.

“The captains understand their roles both on and off the ice, and they have to take charge,” coach Jackie Barto said. “That’s going to be important for us in the long run. They’re doing a good job, and we want to see them get better and better at that.”

While the captains will be looked at for support, junior defenseman and co-captain Tessa Bonhomme said many in the locker room are capable of leadership, whether they have the captain label or not.

“As far as I’m concerned, I have a ‘C’ on my jersey, but we have some senior’s and even junior’s (in the locker room) that are good leader’s (also),” Bonhomme said. “It’s just a matter of the team pulling together and believing as one.”

The Buckeyes were the better team for the majority of the series at even strength, but could never get their power play going against the Bulldogs stifling penalty killing unit.

“We had plenty of chances,” Barto said. “I give credit to Duluth’s penalty kill. They were able to contain our power play, and (Bulldogs goalie) Kim Martin was a big part of it. Your best penalty kill is your goalie, and Martin didn’t give up rebounds and she did a good job of controlling the first shot.”

Although Martin and the Bulldogs got the best of the Buckeyes this weekend, the team must quickly regroup as they begin a four game road trip next weekend at North Dakota. The Buckeyes are confident that they can beat anybody, but it’s just a matter of executing for the whole game, and learning from their mistakes.

“We can play with and beat anybody,” Barto said. “They key for us is to play 60 minutes of hockey, and define that fine line between winning (and losing) at this level. As long as we learn and adjust, that’s the sign of a good team.”

Jon Wagner can be reached at [email protected]