No. 1 Ohio State vs. Wisconsin
Date: March 19, 2023
Time: 4 p.m. ET
Location: AMSOIL Arena
Watch: ESPNU
Live stats: NCAA.com
Game Notes: Ohio State | Wisconsin
Lists: State of Ohio | Wisconsin
COLUMBUS, Ohio – For the second straight year, the Ohio State women’s hockey team will play the final game of the season for a national championship. The Buckeyes (33-5-2) will face WCHA foe Wisconsin (28-10-2) on Sunday, March 19 at 4 p.m. from AMSOIL Arena in the 2023 Frozen Four title game.
The match will be televised on ESPNU. Clay Matvick, AJ Mleczko and Hillary Knight will be there.
Ohio State in the NCAA Tournament
The Buckeyes qualified for the national title game with a 3-0 win over Northeastern in Friday’s Frozen Four semifinal. Amanda Thiele made 15 saves for her fourth shutout of the year and Hadley Hartmetz, Sloane Matthews and Makenna Webster scored the goals for Ohio State. Ohio State earned its fourth Frozen Four appearance with a 5-2 victory over Quinnipiac in the NCAA quarterfinals in Columbus on March 11. Sophie Jaques scored twice with Emma Peschel, Lauren Bernard and Gabby Rosenthal also scoring. Thiele made 21 saves for the Buckeyes. Friday’s semifinal win brings Ohio State to 7-2 in the NCAA Tournament. The Buckeyes made their first tournament appearance in 2018. Graduate forward Emma Maltais was a member of the 2017-18 squad that not only earned a tournament berth for the first time in program history, but also reached the Frozen Four the same season. This year’s Buckeye roster includes 10 players making their third Frozen Four appearance for Ohio State. Ohio State looks to defend its 2022 national title on Sunday against the Badgers. Ohio State is the tournament’s No. 1 seed for the second straight year. The program also hosted NCAA tournament games for the second straight year, having first hosted in 2022. This year’s tournament is the fourth straight in which Ohio State has participated. The team has participated in five of the last six tournaments.
Buckeyes in a nutshell
Jenn Gardiner, a top-10 finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award, is the Buckeyes’ points leader with 57 heading into the final game of the season. Sophie Jaques and Emma Maltais are tied for second with 48. Maltais recorded a team-high 37 assists this year. Gardiner follows closely with 36. Jaques owns a team and career-high 24 goals for the 2022-23 season. Four Buckeyes have recorded more than 20 goalscoring seasons, including Gardiner, Paetyn Levis and Gabby Rosenthal with 21 goals each. Jaques scored 61 goals during her career, making her the WCHA record holder for career goals by a defender. Amanda Thiele earned the Buckeyes’ second shutout in the NCAA Tournament and the first since their tournament debut against Boston College in 2016. Thiele’s 20 wins in goal this season for Ohio State is a career high and tied for the most goalie wins in a single season by a Buckeye. Sloane Matthews became the first freshman from Buckeye to score a goal in the Frozen Four with the first tally in Friday’s semifinal win over Northeastern. Ohio State leads the nation with a .330 power play percentage and a .578 game winning percentage. Buckeyes Gardiner and Jaques were named All-Americans by the AHCA on Thursday. Jaques is a first-team member for the second straight year and Gardiner is a first-time second-team winner. Ohio State won its first WCHA regular season title this year, going a conference record of 23-4-1. The Buckeyes won the Julianne Bye Cup with a 3-1 victory over Wisconsin on February 19. The Buckeyes were runners-up in the 2023 WCHA Final Showdown Tournament. The team fell to Minnesota in the championship game, 3-1. Jaques was named a member of the All-Tournament Team. Ohio State has won 33 games this season, marking the second straight year, and the second time in program history, the Buckeyes have won at least 30 in a single season. The Buckeyes have five 20+ seasons under head coach Nadine Muzerall. The team finished the regular season with a conference-record 23-game winning streak. After leading the Buckeyes to another record-breaking season, Muzerall was named a finalist for the 2022-23 National Coach of the Year. Ohio State is one of three WCHA teams that will compete in the 2023 Frozen Four. The No. 1-seeded Buckeyes will play in the first semifinal and No. 2 seeds Minnesota and Wisconsin will face off. in the second semi-final. Hockey Canada announced last week that Maltais will compete at the 2023 IIHF World Women’s Championships this summer in Brampton, Canada. This will be his third world championships at the senior national team level.
Series History – Buckeyes vs. Badgers
The Buckeyes and Badgers meet for the fifth time this season in Sunday’s national championship game. Ohio State won the regular season series against Wisconsin, 3-1. The Buckeyes have won six of the last seven games between the two programs. The teams have met once before in the Frozen Four, with No. 2 seed Wisconsin beating the Buckeyes in overtime, 3-2, in the 2021 tournament.
Jaques named Patty Kaz among the three finalists
For the second consecutive year, Sophie Jaques has been named one of the three finalists for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award. She joins Northeastern’s Alina Mueller and Colgate’s Danielle Serdachny as the remaining finalists for the award. Jaques has led defensemen in goals and points all season. She is one of the nation’s top power-play scorers with a national-record nine power-play goals on Ohio State’s top power-play. The Toronto, Ont. Native is the 2022-23 WCHA Defender and Player of the Year.
Following
Sunday marks the end of the 2022-23 NCAA women’s ice hockey season. The winner of Sunday’s game will be crowned the 2022-23 national champion.
#GoBucks
