Ohio State then-freshman defenseman Madison Bizal (9) skates down the rink towards the puck against Bemidgi State on Feb 8. Ohio State lost 2-3. Credit: Cori Wade | For The Lantern

After a 59-minute dominant defensive stand by St. Lawrence, Ohio State scored two times in the last minute of the game and shocked the Saints in a 3-2 win.

The come-from-behind victory gave No. 9 Ohio State women’s hockey (2-0) its second straight win over St. Lawrence (0-2) to start the season with a sweep Saturday.

“It was absolutely electric. The team was buzzing,” sophomore defenseman Madison Bizal said. “We obviously didn’t give up. It was really good to see everyone flying around, getting ready to go, and it was awesome to see the end result of the game.”

The atmosphere was tense. Ohio State was down a goal on their home ice with only a minute and four seconds left in the game. That’s when Bizal had enough, and put the tying goal in the back of the net off a great pass from junior forward Tatum Skaggs.

“It was the pass,” Bizal said. “It hit me in the perfect spot, and it was a pretty good feeling.”

Eight seconds later, junior forward Emma Maltais snuck the winning goal past freshman goaltender Lucy Morgan.

Head coach Nadine Muzerall drew up the play with help from assistant coaches Emily West and Milica McMillen, who were previously coached by Muzzerall at Minnesota.

“It was a great little play that we played back in the day that Emily pulled out,” Muzerall said. “The utter joy in Emily’s face when it worked out — the excitement that I see in them gets me pretty excited.”

Ohio State started the game strong, pinning the Saints back in their defensive zone and getting an early power play opportunity off a slashing penalty against St. Lawrence freshman forward Shailynn Snow.

The Saints finally got their first shot around the 9-minute mark and started to turn it up. A tripping penalty against Ohio State senior defenseman Elise Riemenschneider gave the Saints their first power play, but the Buckeyes held strong to keep their penalty kill record perfect on the season.

The Buckeyes finished off the period with with another power play as a result of a hooking penalty against junior forward Brittney Gout, but were unable to capitalize.

St. Lawrence outshot the Buckeyes 7-5 in the first period, with Ohio State putting up 16 fewer shots than it did in the opening period of its match against the same team Friday. Both teams headed to the intermission scoreless.

The action heated up in the second period. Right away, both teams got some good looks at the goal. After a scramble near the Ohio State net around the 15-minute mark, senior forward Maggie McLaughlin snuck the puck past sophomore goaltender Andrea Braendli to put the Saints up 1-0. Assisting on the play were Gout and freshman forward Anna Segedi.

Moments later, Ohio State answered when freshman defenseman Teghan Inglis sank her first career goal to knot it up at 1-1. Freshman forward Brooke Bink and sophomore forward Gabby Rosenthal assisted on the play.

“Coach is always telling us to get pucks to the net, and to fake or make a move so that the defensive team doesn’t get a blocked shot,” Inglis said. “My main focus was just taking it to the middle a bit and then shooting it up high because the goalie often goes down.”

St. Lawrence kept the offensive pressure coming and halfway through the period senior forward Kayla Vespa who buried a goal to put the Saints back on top 2-1.

Both teams came out fighting in the third, both teams put themselves in great scoring opportunities, and both teams played tough defense. But it was Ohio State who stepped up big when it counted most.

Ohio State will look to take the momentum from its win when it goes on the road to face St. Cloud State Friday at 7 p.m.