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Ohio State wins weekend series against St. Thomas, stays undefeated in WCHA.
Credit: Zachary Rilley | Lantern File

The Buckeyes continue to roll in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.

No. 2 Ohio State women’s ice hockey (5-1-0, 4-0-0 WCHA) took both games in its weekend series against St. Thomas (4-4-0, 0-4-0 WCHA) in the St. Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota Heights, Minnesota, winning 6-2 Friday and 7-1 Saturday.

Graduate forward Hannah Bilka recorded goals three and four as a Buckeye Friday, notching a goal just 1:10 into the game and closing out scoring with under two minutes left in the game. Bilka also added an assist in the win.

St. Thomas tied the game at the 6:08 mark in the first period on a Cara Sajevic goal before Ohio State scored four unanswered over the next 30 minutes of play, capitalizing it with a last-second goal by sophomore defenseman Emma Peschel to end the second period.

The Buckeyes had five different goal scorers in the Friday victory, with freshman forward Jocelyn Amos, senior defenseman Lauren Bernard and senior forward Kiara Zanon, all adding points between the pipes.

Graduate goaltender Raygan Kirk recorded her third straight win, saving 17 shots fresh off of her back-to-back WCHA Goaltender of the Week awards.

Ohio State outshot the Tommies 57-19 in shots-on-goal and continued to improve its penalty kill, holding St. Thomas to 0-for-7 on the weekend on power-play attempts. 

Zanon followed in Bilka’s footsteps Saturday, notching her own two-goal, one-assist performance against the Tommies in the 7-1 rout.

Ohio State bested its performance from the night prior, as six different Buckeyes recorded a goal, with All-WCHA Preseason honoree graduate forward Jennifer Gardiner notching her first goal this season.

A pair of forwards, senior Olivia Mobley and graduate Kelsey King, both added their first goals as Buckeyes. 

Graduate goaltender Amanda Thiele earned her second win of the season in the crease.

Ohio State ended its six-game road series going 5-1-0 and undefeated in WCHA play, and will welcome No. 4 Minnesota to the Ohio State Ice Rink for its first home stand of the year Friday and Saturday.

Friday’s puck drop is at 6 p.m., and Saturday’s matchup starts at 3 p.m. Both contests can be streamed on Big Ten+.