No revenge yet, but Bulldogs get last laugh in national championship rematch with Buckeyes

DULUTH — During the regular season, is it possible to get revenge for a loss in the national championship game?

Probably not, and it’s doubtful No. 8 Minnesota Duluth considered Saturday’s 5-4 overtime result against No. 1 Ohio State in WCHA play a revenge win of any sort for what happened last March at Penn State. However, the Bulldogs admitted it was nice to get the last laugh against the Buckeyes in their regular season finale after losing the previous three games of the series.

“It's definitely a statement,” UMD junior defenseman Nina Jobst-Smith said of Saturday’s win. “Yesterday we spent a lot of time looking in the rear-view (mirror) and now it's all forward. No looking back. We're done with that.”

Junior wing Clara Van Wieren had two goals for the Bulldogs on Saturday, including the game-winner 3:37 into overtime. UMD started overtime on a 4-on-3 power play via a Buckeyes penalty that carried over from regulation, but failed to convert. UMD was able to maintain possession through most of 4-on-4 and then through 3-on-3.

Van Wieren patiently did a lap around the Buckeyes zone before firing through her sixth goal of the season. She joked she was getting dizzy out there, and that’s why she shot the puck when she did.

“We stuck to the game plan,” Van Wieren said. “We work on 3-on-3 a lot. We have a lot of confidence going into it and we pulled it off and did what we have been practicing.”

Ohio State took advantage of its power play time in the third period to tie the game twice and force overtime. Junior wing Makenna Webster tied the game at 3-3 shortly after a Buckeyes power play expired 2:39 into the third period while a power play goal by fifth-year senior Gabby Rosenthal with 5:24 remaining canceled out a potential game-winning goal by UMD fifth-year senior center Kyle Hanley.

The Bulldogs jumped out to a 2-0 lead with two goals 48 seconds apart in the first period from fifth-year senior wing Taylor Anderson and Van Wieren, however, the Buckeyes got one back 22 seconds after Van Wieren’s goal to pull within one at the first intermission.

Despite Ohio State cutting the lead to one in the first, Van Wieren said the two quick goals were big because it forced OSU to chase UMD the rest of the day on the scoreboard.

“We had so much energy in the locker room, so much energy in warm-ups, so we were kind of expecting to come out that hot,” Van Wieren said. “When we did, it was it was everything.”

Both sides traded power play goals in the second period with OSU fifth-year senior defenseman Sophie Jacques tying the game at 2-2 midway through the second. Jobst-Smith put UMD back on top with 2:55 to go before the intermission.

Jobst-Smith finished the day with a goal and an assist — helping set up Van Wieren’s game-winner — and Hanley did as well. Sophomore wing Gabby Krause and senior center Mannon McMahon — who also assisted on the game-winner — both finished with two assists.

“We talked about just playing fearless hockey,” Bulldogs coach Maura Crowell said of Saturday’s win. “We knew we didn't play our game yesterday. That performance today shows you what an experienced team can do in response to a disappointing outing yesterday. They were ready to roll at the drop of the puck.”

Bulldogs fifth-year senior Emma Soderberg finished with 31 saves while senior goalie Raygan Kirk made 27 saves for the Buckeyes, who still won the regular season series, going 3-1 against UMD while taking nine of the 12 points in the series.

3. UMD junior defenseman Nina Jobst-Smith — A terrific power play goal in the second period to give UMD a 3-2 lead and then the assist on the game-winner in OT.

2. OSU fifth-year senior Gabby Rosenthal — Two goals and an assist for the Buckeyes, with her goal in the first cutting UMD’s early lead to 2-1 and then the goal in the third forcing overtime.

1. UMD junior wing Clara Van Wieren — Two goals to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead in the first and a 5-4 overtime win in the end.

Ohio State 1-1-2-0—4
Minnesota Duluth 2-1-1-1—5
First period
1. UMD, Taylor Anderson (Tova Henderson, Anneke Linser), 8:49
2. UMD, Clara Van Wieren (Mannon McMahon, Gabby Krause), 9:37
3. OSU, Gabby Rosenthal (Makenna Webster, Jennifer Gardiner), 10:59
Second period
4. OSU, Sophie Jaques (Madison Bizal), 10:13 (pp)
5. UMD, Nina Jobst-Smith (Krause, Kylie Hanley), 17:55 (pp)
Third period
6. OSU, Webster (Jacques, Rosenthal), 2:40
7. UMD, Hanley (Maggie Flaherty), 8:55
8. OSU, Rosenthal (Gardiner, Bizal), 14:36
Overtime
9. UMD, Van Wieren (Jobst-Smith, McMahon), 3:37
Saves — Raygan Kirk, OSU, 27; Emma Soderberg, UMD, 31.
Power play — OSU 2-4; UMD 1-2. Penalties OSU 3-6; UMD 5-10.