|
This past weekend, the Buckeyes traveled to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to face off against the Northern Michigan University Wildcats. In their last showdown in the 2008-2009 season, the Wildcats came back in the third period of the game to score 3 goals and win in a shootout victory, but with a strong start to the season the Buckeyes looked to make that game ancient history.
After
a 12 hour bus trip, the concern was whether or not the team would have
any legs for the Saturday night game.
Northern opened the scoring on a goal by Britt Shand at the 4:01 minute
mark of the first period as the Buckeyes experienced a sluggish start.
Goaltender Lindsey Roshon shut down the remainder of the 1st
period which ended 1-0 in favor of NMU.
The Buckeyes came
out hard to begin the second period and answered NMU’s goal at the 3:31
minute mark on a goal by Junior Amanda Robinson (Centerville, OH).
Although Ohio State carried most
of the play, NMU’s Laura Williams walked the puck from the corner and
scored at 13:17 of the second period.
Taking the ice again for the 3rd and final period of the game, the Buckeyes took control of the game play, peppering Northern goalie Sarah Church with numerous shots.
Ohio State had a chance late with the goalie pulled, but could not
manage to score. The Buckeyes out shot NMU 32-19 and suffered a
frustrating 2-1 loss.
“She was clearly the difference”, head coach John Damrath said of NMU's goaltender, Sarah Church. Even in the wake of the loss, Coach Damrath was positive about the team's performance.
"I was pleased with signs of progress with our puck possession," he said. After a team pasta dinner, the Buckeyes settled down for the night to prepare for the following morning's 9 am game.
Sunday
morning came around quickly as the team departed from the hotel at
7:30AM for the second game of the series. The game started with an
early NMU goal past Buckeye
Junior Allie Mackerty (Macedonia, OH) only 1 minute into the game. The
Buckeyes responded with a goal just 90 seconds later by Junior
Amanda Damrath (Novi, MI) who stole the puck at Ohio State’s blue line
and beat NMU’s goalie, Allison Aown on a breakaway
deke. The first period ended tied 1-1, but Ohio State controlled most
of the play.
Junior
Jennifer Brannon (Dublin, OH) scored at 10:15 of the second to give
Ohio State their first lead of the weekend as she went to the net and
made a strong play
on the puck. Another Buckeye rewarded for going to the net was Junior Meredith
Motz (Deerfield, NH) who buried the puck in the net just one minute later. Ohio State’s
hard work resulted in 4 penalties to NMU in the second period which was
dominated by the Buckeyes.
The
Buckeyes overpowered Northern again in the third, though Buckeye
goalie Allie Mackerty came up with 3 huge saves, preventing them from
making it a close one. Amanda
Damrath finished off the weekend scoring with her second goal of the
game at 16:39.
The
4-1 win brings Ohio State’s record to 1-3-0. Regarding the Buckeyes
intensity after such a frustrating loss just 9 hours earlier, Coach
Damrath remarked, “I am
not surprised. We have a lot of character in our room and they have
faith that the hard work will pay off. I am happy our team was rewarded
for their efforts this weekend. I thought our defense played extremely
well, allowing only 3 goals all weekend and the
offense is starting to gain momentum.”
The Buckeyes next game is their home opener against the Western Michigan University club team on November 7th.
| 
