Top Dog Buckeyes Battle With Golden Gophers
This weekend in women’s college hockey, a paramount matchup between the No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes and the No. 3 Minnesota Golden Gophers is set to take place.
Ohio State is the reigning national champion in NCAA Women’s Hockey, and the team has been able to reclaim and maintain the No. 1 spot in the country with stellar play each week. The team only has two losses on the season, and one of those happened at the end of October against Minnesota.
The Golden Gophers once again are a force to be reckoned with in women’s hockey, and have an outstanding record of 22-3-2. They have not lost back to back games all year, and they are currently on a 12 game win streak.
Taylor Heise, a regular for the USA National team, is also a Golden Gopher. She’s tied for the team lead in points and leads the team in assists, while being second in goals scored. On the season she has 20 goals, 27 assists and 47 points in just 25 games.
On Heise’s heels is Grace Zumwinkle, the team's leading goal scorer. Zumwinkle has 47 points, 21 goals and 26 assists on the season. The Heise-Zumwinkle connection has been a problem all season for Minnesota’s opponents. Ohio State has quite the dynamic duo to shut down this weekend.
The defensive corps is spearheaded by Madeline Wethington. She only has one goal on the campaign but has a superb 19 assists placing her point total at 19 for the season. She is second on the team in blocked shots with 24, and for a team that does not concede many shot opportunities, her statline is outstanding.
Skylar Vetter wears the pillows most often for Minnesota and her stats are great. On the season she has a .927 SV% and a 1.70 GAA. The chances of winning grow exponentially when Vetter is between the pipes for the Gophers.
Senior forward Jennifer Gardiner has been excellent all season for Ohio State. She leads the team in assists and points, with 26 and 42 respectively. She is also third on the team with 16 goals. Gardiner paces the team offensively and will be relied on heavily on the weekend.
Paetyn Levis is another key weapon on the front end for the Buckeyes. The graduate student has 18 goals and 14 assists which is good for 32 points on the season. The 2022 Women’s Frozen Four MVP will need to be firing on all cylinders to help guide Ohio State to victory.
The defense is led by Sophie Jaques, another graduate student on the experienced Buckeye roster. She has an outstanding 19 goals and 18 assists on her graduate campaign, bolstering the Buckeye offense night in and night out.
Nadine Muzerall’s squad utilizes a pair of goalies from time to time. Amanda Thiele is the top dog in net and has posted an average .895 SV% and 1.94 GAA. Her partner Raygan Kirk has better numbers in five fewer games with a .919 SV% and 1.83 GAA.
Hayden Lewis is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email lewis1818hayden@gmail.com.
