Ohio State then-junior forward Charly Dahlquist (5) fights for possesion of the puck in the first period of the game against Minnesota on Jan. 19. Ohio State won 3-2. Credit: Jack Westerheide | Managing Editor for Design

The No. 4 Ohio State women’s hockey team (9-5, 5-3 WCHA) struggled on the road against Bemidji State (2-9-1, 2-5-1 WCHA) as the Buckeyes were swept for the first time this season, falling to the Athletics 2-1 on Friday and losing 4-2 on Saturday..

Game 1

Ohio State outshot Bemidji State in shots on goal 38-24 i, but the Athletics defense proved to be a worthy adversary of the Buckeyes, giving their offense just enough leeway to come away with the win.

Bemidji State took the lead early in the first period as sophomore forward Lindsey Featherstone snuck one by freshman goaltender Andrea Braendli amidst a swarm of Buckeyes and Athletics fighting for control of the puck right in front of the goal. Freshman forward Graysen Myers and sophomore forward Lydia Passolt were awarded assists on the play.

Ohio State continued its efforts to try and score in the second period, but it was Bemidji State that found the net, scoring the deciding goal with just under a minute left to go in the second period.

Coming off a faceoff, sophomore forward Claire DeGeorge took a pass off a faceoff from senior forward Emily Bergland and shot it past Braendli to give the Athletics a 2-0 lead heading into the third period.

Moving into the third period, the Buckeyes tried to mount a rally in an attempt to even the game up, with sophomore forward Emma Maltais taking advantage of a power play in the third period, getting a goal to close the gap to 2-1.

Following Maltais’s goal, the Buckeyes had momentum on their side and continued to fire at the goal, pulling their goalie with just under two minutes left to go in the game, but it was all for naught as the Athletic defense gave Bemidji State their first win of the season, 2-1.

Game 2

Looking to avenge their loss to Bemidji State from the previous day, the Buckeyes came out looking to split the series with the Athletics, but still couldn’t seal the deal as Bemidji State pulled away late to get the win.

Much like the night before, Bemidji State came out and quickly took the lead, this time just 2:11 into the first period off a goal by junior forward Abby Halluska with assists by junior forward Haley Mack and DeGeorge.

However, the Buckeyes had an answer to the Athletics’ early goal, countering with one of their own less than five minutes later in the first period with a shot by senior forward Charly Dahlquist tying the game up at 1-1.

The second period played out much like the first did as first Bemidji State scored to take the lead back, and then Ohio State quickly struck back to even things up.

The Bemidji State goal came when sophomore forward Paige Beebe wgot one by Braendli to take the lead in the second period.

Ohio State got their goal five minutes later  off a strike from Field to tie the game up. Freshman forward Sara Saekkinen and Dunne helped set up the Field goal and were given assists on the play.

It was the third period where the game started to unravel for the Buckeyes.

First, it was Mack for Bemidji State, taking advantage of an untimely penalty by Ohio State to score a power play goal to take the lead back for the final time for the Athletics.

Then, despite the Buckeye efforts to tie the game up once again, junior forward Jacqueline Kaasa found the net with an unassisted goal to effectively put the game out of reach for Ohio State.

Ohio State will look to rebound as it travels back home to Columbus to face the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs in a WCHA matchup. Puck drop for the series is set for 6:00 p.m. on Friday, Nov 16.