Within 20 days of the its first game, the Ohio State women’s hockey team has hired former Minnesota Golden Gophers assistant coach Nadine Muzerall as its head coach, announced in the second quarter of the Ohio State football game on Saturday.
Muzerall fills a hole left by former coach Jenny Potter who left the program on Aug. 18, just five weeks before the first game and five days before classes began. OSU was 10-25-1 under Potter in 2015-16.
“We’ve all heard such good things (about Muzerall),” junior defenseman Dani Sadek said. “She has a winning mindset and I think that’s what this program needs.”
The first thing to know about the new Buckeye coach is her connection to the Golden Gophers’ women’s hockey program.
Muzerall was on the bench of last year’s Minnesota squad that won the national championship over Boston College. She spent the past five seasons at Minnesota coaching in five national championship games and claiming four championship rings.
As a player at Minnesota from 1997-2001, she began her extensive trophy case by collecting two All-American honors in 1998 and 2000. Muzerall was also on the Gophers team that won an AWCHA national championship — women’s hockey was not an NCAA-sanctioned sport until 2000-2001 season — and a 2001 Western Collegiate Hockey Association conference championship.
Muzerall still holds the all-time goals record for Minnesota women’s hockey with 139 career goals. She also leads the all-time goals per game mark with 1.08. She ranks third all-time in career points with 235.
The Ontario, Canada, native was the first women’s hockey player inducted into the hall of fame at the university. She is still the youngest athlete to be inducted into Minnesota’s hall of fame.
Muzerall is OSU’s third coach in as many years following Porter’s departure and the resignation of former coach Nate Handrahan amidst sexual harassment allegations.
OSU opens the season on Friday, Sept. 30, at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
