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With familiar faces in the crowd and on the opposing bench, a pair of Minnesota natives played admirably in their home state for the Ohio State women’s hockey team last weekend.
Unfortunately, the excellent play of Erin Keys and Shannon Reilly was not enough as the Buckeyes were only able to collect one of four possible points against No. 9 St. Cloud State.
Keys, a senior forward, and Reilly, a freshman defenseman, each had three points in the two-game series. However, missed opportunities hurt the Buckeyes (10-9-3 overall, 7-8-3 Western Collegiate Hockey Association), making this weekend’s showdown with two-time defending NCAA champion Wisconsin a pivotal series.
“I went up there (St. Cloud) with the intention that we could win two games,” OSU coach Jackie Barto said. “I think we can beat anybody when we play 60 minutes. That’s been a little bit of a struggle this year.”
The Huskies were 8-1-1 in their previous 10 games, but the lone loss came at the hands of the scarlet and gray Nov. 23, giving rise to Barto’s optimism.
Neither team was able to tip the scales Friday as they played to a 2-2 tie.
Although OSU held an early lead Saturday, the Huskies (13-5-4, 10-5-3 WCHA) pulled out a 5-4 win Saturday by making the most out of power play opportunities in the second and third periods.
“I thought we played very well Friday night, probably well enough to get a win, but we didn’t,” Barto said. “Saturday, we had a good start, but I thought we sat back a little bit and then St. Cloud capitalized on our mistakes.”
Keys, last week’s WCHA offensive player of the week, had a goal and two assists Saturday. The St. Paul native is second on the team in scoring with 29 points, two behind senior defenseman Tessa Bonhomme who had four points in the two games.
Reilly, of Chanhassen, has been scorching the ice since the start of the second half of the season. She is now fifth on the team in scoring with 15 points. She said a few adjustments have played a role in her recent success.
“I’m a really offensive defenseman,” Reilly said. “I like to get up in the play. (Lately), I’ve been concentrating on moving my feet and getting my shots to the net.”
Barto has been pleased with the consistency of her scoring leaders.
“I think all three of them – Tess, Shannon and Keys – have an offensive flair to their game,” Barto said. “They are able to generate and contribute offensively. We just want to see them continue to do that, but also continue to play solid defense. That’s important for us.”
The Buckeyes are going to need production from the three when the pesky Badgers come to town Friday. OSU sits one spot behind No. 5 Wisconsin in the WCHA standings, trailing by five points.
“It’s huge because they’re (fourth in the league) and we’re (fifth) right now,” Keys said. “They’re a great team. Skill-wise, they’re unbelievable. We’ve got to play our best hockey.”
“It’s a big weekend for us because we not only want to play well, but we need some results,” Barto said.
Wisconsin took three out of four points from OSU in Madison earlier this season. Yet, the Buckeyes believe the home ice and its smaller dimensions will play in their favor against a big, physical Badger squad.
“It’ll be nice playing on our home rink because they’re used to an Olympic-size rink,” Keys said. (The OSU Ice Rink is set to NHL standards.) “We’re looking to get a few points or maybe even a sweep this weekend.”
OSU is 8-2-0 at home this season. Game time is 7 p.m. Friday and 4 p.m. Saturday.
Frank Blechschmidt can be reached at [email protected].
