The Gophers women's hockey team entered Friday night's game with three losses in 20 games and within striking distance of first-place and top-ranked Ohio State in the WCHA standings.
No. 2 Gophers women's hockey absorbs rare blowout loss to top-ranked Buckeyes
Friday night's 7-0 loss matched the worst NCAA defeat in program history.
January 13, 2024 at 4:12AM
The drama didn't make it through the first period at Ridder Arena. Buckeyes freshman Joy Dunne scored the opening goal at 5:46 and the fourth at 15:29.
The 10-minute explosion also included goals by Kenzie Hauswirth (from Farmington) and Hannah Bilke to send Ohio State to a 7-0 victory.
It's the Gophers' worst loss to an NCAA opponent since another 7-0 loss at Minnesota Duluth on Oct. 20, 2001. (Later that season, the Gophers lost 16-0 to the United States national team in an exhibition game.)
"They are rated No. 1 for a reason," Gophers coach Brad Frost said. "They swarm. They are an aggressive team. And some of our wounds were self-inflicted. I don't remember being on this side of one like this, not at home."
The Buckeyes hit the transfer portal hard before this season and that has paid off for coach Nadine Muzerall, a Gophers great from the early years of the program (1997-2001). They are 17-2 overall, 14-1 in the WCHA and 3-0 against her alma mater.
The Gophers started Lucy Morgan in net, then went to Skylar Vetter, last week's WCHA goalie of the week, late in the first period.
That didn't change the scoreboard — Dunne scored a third goal in the middle of the second period to make it 5-0, and Bilka made it 6-0 in the final minute. Senior Olivia Mobley of St. Louis Park got the last goal of the game at 2:40 of the third period.
It had turned into a defeat the Gophers have seldom taken in Ridder Arena. And the Buckeyes also delivered a few hits on the Gophers' feisty scoring star, Abbey Murphy, including a cross check late in the second period.
Gophers captain Peyton Hemp was asked: "Three stars all for the visitors. That ever happen?"
Hemp replied: "I can't imagine it did. I'd say no."
The Gophers men’s hockey team can trace Sam Rinzel’s improvement this past offseason down to the second, and he’ll be a focal point in this weekend’s series against No. 3 Michigan State.
