ST. CLOUD, Minn. — No coach or team feels good about a loss.
But there were some good signs — again — for the St. Cloud State women's hockey team on Saturday at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. A day after a four-goal loss, the Huskies pushed top-ranked Ohio State to overtime in a WCHA game.
The Buckeyes ended up getting a goal from senior forward Jennifer Gardiner on a 2-on-0 rush during the 3-on-3 overtime to pick up an extra point with a 3-2 win over the Huskies.
OT| BUCKEYE GOAL! 🚨@jenngardiner12 with the overtime game winner!#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/nrXJc7dPuE
— Ohio State Women's Hockey (@OhioStateWHKY) January 21, 2023
It is the second opponent ranked in the top 10 that the Huskies (7-14-0 WCHA, 13-14-0 overall) have picked up points against this season. SCSU had a 3-2 overtime loss to Wisconsin on Oct. 15 at the Brooks Center. The Huskies also had a 4-1 win over Minnesota in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Faceoff Classic on Nov. 7 in Andover, but that was counted as a nonconference matchup.
"I thought we competed and gave ourselves a chance to pull out some points," said Brian Idalski, who is in his first season as head coach of the Huskies. "I was happy with our effort and our compete level against a very talented and No. 1-ranked Ohio State team."
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A huge part of the reason for the point for the Huskies in the WCHA standings was goalie Sanni Ahola. Ahola, a junior from Helsinki, Finland, made 47 saves. The Huskies also blocked 33 shots.
"Sanni was terrific in net," said Idalski, whose team dropped a 6-2 loss to Ohio State on Friday. "I think we defended a little bit better (than Friday) and I think they took their foot off the gas a little bit. Sometimes, it's hard to turn that back on. We had some opportunities down the stretch.
"There's some intriguing signs. We've taken Ohio State to overtime this year," Idalski said of the defending national champion. "We've taken Wisconsin to overtime this year. We've beaten Minnesota. First season in with the changes we're making, that's encouraging. We still need to get some people healthy."
Ohio State (16-2-1, 21-2-2) got a goal from graduate student defender Sophie Jacques at 4:55 of the first period to take a 1-0 lead and the Buckeyes outshot the Huskies 23-4 in the first period. It was the 18th goal of the season for Jacques, who was a top three finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award last season.
The Huskies tied it with a goal by freshman forward Svenja Voigt at 4:29 of the second period.
The Buckeyes took a 2-1 lead on a goal by Jenna Buglioni at 4:46 of the third period. But the Huskies answered with a wraparound goal by senior forward Addi Scribner to make it 2-2.
WHAT. A. GOAL. @AScribner26 making money moves! 👊#HuskiesHockey 🏒 pic.twitter.com/P0YTYOQAHY
— St. Cloud State Women’s Hockey (@SCSUHuskies_WHK) January 21, 2023
In overtime, Hadley Hartmetz got a steal and passed it to Gardiner, who went in on a breakaway for the game-winner.
St. Cloud State was 3-for-3 on the penalty kill and did not get a power play in the game.
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The Huskies will have an out of the ordinary weekend next weekend. SCSU plays Bemidji State (1-19, 4-21-1) at 6 p.m. Friday. On Saturday, the two teams will meet again as part of Hockey Day Minnesota and will play a game outdoors in White Bear Lake. That game will be played at 1 p.m. and can be seen on Bally Sports North Extra.
No. 1 OHIO STATE 3, SCSU 2, OT
OSU 1-0-1-1—3
SCSU 0-1-1-0—2
First period scoring — 1. OSU, Sophie Jacques 18 (Jennifer Gardiner 26, Madison Bizal 10) 4:55. Penalties: SCSU, Klara Hymlarova (tripping) 15:20; SCSU, Allie Cornelius (slashing) 18:15.
Second period scoring — 2. SCSU, Svenja Voigt 3 (Emma Gentry 5, Grace Wolfe 13) 4:29. Penalties: None.
Third period scoring — 3. Jenna Buglioni 12 (Kenzie Hauswirth 16, Lauren Bernard 7) 4:46. Penalties: SCSU, Voigt (roughing) 11:27.
Goalie saves — OSU, Amanda Thiele 4-5-5-1—15 (2 GA). SCSU, Sanni Ahola 22-10-14-1—47 (3 GA).
Penalties-minutes — OSU 0-0; SCSU 3-6.
Power play goals-opportunities (shots) — OSU 0-3 (8 shots); SCSU 0-0.
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Faceoffs — OSU 27-26.
Referees: Mike Paulson, Jordan Lee.
Linesemen: Glenn Hagberg, Doug Durgin.
