Brett Ludwiczak
Guest
Inside the numbers of a championship season for Ohio State women’s hockey
Brett Ludwiczak via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Gil Talbot/NCAA Photos via Getty Images
The Buckeyes put together a season that will be tough for future Ohio State teams to top.
Ohio State’s women’s ice hockey team has now won two national titles in the last three years. The Buckeyes were dominant throughout the season, and there were so many players that contributed to the best season in program history. To look back on just how great the Buckeyes were, we’ll dive into some of the important numbers from the 2023-24 season.
With their 1-0 win over Wisconsin on Sunday afternoon, Ohio State’s women’s ice hockey team won their second national championship in program history. The first national title came two years ago, when the Buckeyes beat Minnesota-Duluth. The only thing separating the Buckeyes from a three-peat is a 1-0 loss to Wisconsin in last year’s title game.
The win over Wisconsin in New Hampshire gave Ohio State their 35th win of the season, which is a school record. The Buckeyes actually set the program record for wins in a season on Friday, when they beat Clarkson in the Frozen Four semifinal. The win over the Badgers just set the mark even higher for future Ohio State teams to try and top.
In each of the last three seasons, the Buckeyes have finished the season with a new school record for wins in the season. The 2021-22 season saw Ohio State finish with 32 wins, last season the Buckeyes notched 33 wins, and this year they improved on last year’s mark by two wins.
Starting with a 6-2 win in Columbus against St. Cloud State on Dec. 2, Ohio State reeled off 16-straight wins, shattering the previous school record of 10-straight victories. The winning streak came to an end in the final game of the regular season, when Wisconsin beat the Buckeyes 4-2 in Madison.
During the winning streak, which spanned over two months, Ohio State outscored their opponents 88-16.
It wasn’t often when Ohio State was pushed to the limit this season, as they outscored their opponents 201-51. During the season, the Buckeyes had four games where they scored at least 10 goals, and another four games where they scored at least eight goals. Of their 35 wins on the season, just seven of those victories were by less than two goals.
The season-high for goals in a game by Ohio State this season was when they scored 12 goals on Feb. 16 against St. Thomas. Seven different Buckeyes scored in the game, with four Ohio State players recording multiple goals in the blowout victory.
There were five games this season where Ohio State players recorded a hat trick. The first three-goal game came in October against Minnesota-Duluth, when Hadley Hartmetz completed the feat. The first of two Joy Dunne hat tricks during the season came less than a month later, when the freshman notched her first career hat trick on Nov. 3 against Bemidji State, and the other came against Minnesota in January.
The other two came in February. Jenna Buglioni also had a hat trick against Bemidji State, followed by Hannah Bilka’s three-goal performance in the 12-1 rout of St. Thomas.
The 24 goals scored by Joy Dunne this season were the high mark on the team. The 2024 Julie Chu Rookie of the Year took a little time to get comfortable on the ice, as she didn’t score her first career goal at Ohio State until her ninth game, but she caught fire as soon as the puck hit the back of the net, scoring three goals in the game.
Dunne’s final goal of the season was the most important, as her goal against Wisconsin on Sunday ended up being the deciding factor in a national championship victory for the Buckeyes.
While Dunne led Ohio State in goals this season, the overall point leader for the Buckeyes was Hannah Bilka, who finished the season with 48 points.
After playing four seasons at Boston College, Bilka transferred to Ohio State following last season. The graduate student didn’t take long to get acclimated to her new surroundings in Columbus, as she had starting with her third game in scarlet and gray she posted at least two points in six straight games.
Bilka’s best performance of the season came in early February, when she was credited with four points in the 11-1 win over Bemidji State.
Of Ohio State’s 35 wins this season, 22 of them came with Raygan Kirk between the pipes for the Buckeyes. The number of wins that Kirk was in goal for this season set a new school record. Kirk was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Frozen Four.
The final start of the year for Kirk came in the national title game against Wisconsin. By not allowing the Badgers to score, Kirk recorded her 10th shutout of the year, which was the most in the country this season. Keeping opponents off the scoreboard in so many of her starts this season, Kirk finished the year with a 1.05 goals against average.
The NCAA Tournament appearance was Ohio State’s seventh in school history, with all of them coming under head coach Nadine Muzerall. In six of those seasons the Buckeyes have won at least 20 games.
With the tremendous foundation Muzerall has built during her time in Columbus, those numbers are only going to increase over the years. There’s no question that Muzerall has turned Ohio State into the premier women’s ice hockey program in the country right now.
Continue reading...
Brett Ludwiczak via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Gil Talbot/NCAA Photos via Getty Images
The Buckeyes put together a season that will be tough for future Ohio State teams to top.
Ohio State’s women’s ice hockey team has now won two national titles in the last three years. The Buckeyes were dominant throughout the season, and there were so many players that contributed to the best season in program history. To look back on just how great the Buckeyes were, we’ll dive into some of the important numbers from the 2023-24 season.
2
With their 1-0 win over Wisconsin on Sunday afternoon, Ohio State’s women’s ice hockey team won their second national championship in program history. The first national title came two years ago, when the Buckeyes beat Minnesota-Duluth. The only thing separating the Buckeyes from a three-peat is a 1-0 loss to Wisconsin in last year’s title game.
35
The win over Wisconsin in New Hampshire gave Ohio State their 35th win of the season, which is a school record. The Buckeyes actually set the program record for wins in a season on Friday, when they beat Clarkson in the Frozen Four semifinal. The win over the Badgers just set the mark even higher for future Ohio State teams to try and top.
In each of the last three seasons, the Buckeyes have finished the season with a new school record for wins in the season. The 2021-22 season saw Ohio State finish with 32 wins, last season the Buckeyes notched 33 wins, and this year they improved on last year’s mark by two wins.
16
Starting with a 6-2 win in Columbus against St. Cloud State on Dec. 2, Ohio State reeled off 16-straight wins, shattering the previous school record of 10-straight victories. The winning streak came to an end in the final game of the regular season, when Wisconsin beat the Buckeyes 4-2 in Madison.
During the winning streak, which spanned over two months, Ohio State outscored their opponents 88-16.
201-51
It wasn’t often when Ohio State was pushed to the limit this season, as they outscored their opponents 201-51. During the season, the Buckeyes had four games where they scored at least 10 goals, and another four games where they scored at least eight goals. Of their 35 wins on the season, just seven of those victories were by less than two goals.
12
The season-high for goals in a game by Ohio State this season was when they scored 12 goals on Feb. 16 against St. Thomas. Seven different Buckeyes scored in the game, with four Ohio State players recording multiple goals in the blowout victory.
5
There were five games this season where Ohio State players recorded a hat trick. The first three-goal game came in October against Minnesota-Duluth, when Hadley Hartmetz completed the feat. The first of two Joy Dunne hat tricks during the season came less than a month later, when the freshman notched her first career hat trick on Nov. 3 against Bemidji State, and the other came against Minnesota in January.
The other two came in February. Jenna Buglioni also had a hat trick against Bemidji State, followed by Hannah Bilka’s three-goal performance in the 12-1 rout of St. Thomas.
24
The 24 goals scored by Joy Dunne this season were the high mark on the team. The 2024 Julie Chu Rookie of the Year took a little time to get comfortable on the ice, as she didn’t score her first career goal at Ohio State until her ninth game, but she caught fire as soon as the puck hit the back of the net, scoring three goals in the game.
Dunne’s final goal of the season was the most important, as her goal against Wisconsin on Sunday ended up being the deciding factor in a national championship victory for the Buckeyes.
48
While Dunne led Ohio State in goals this season, the overall point leader for the Buckeyes was Hannah Bilka, who finished the season with 48 points.
After playing four seasons at Boston College, Bilka transferred to Ohio State following last season. The graduate student didn’t take long to get acclimated to her new surroundings in Columbus, as she had starting with her third game in scarlet and gray she posted at least two points in six straight games.
Bilka’s best performance of the season came in early February, when she was credited with four points in the 11-1 win over Bemidji State.
22
Of Ohio State’s 35 wins this season, 22 of them came with Raygan Kirk between the pipes for the Buckeyes. The number of wins that Kirk was in goal for this season set a new school record. Kirk was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Frozen Four.
10
The final start of the year for Kirk came in the national title game against Wisconsin. By not allowing the Badgers to score, Kirk recorded her 10th shutout of the year, which was the most in the country this season. Keeping opponents off the scoreboard in so many of her starts this season, Kirk finished the year with a 1.05 goals against average.
7
The NCAA Tournament appearance was Ohio State’s seventh in school history, with all of them coming under head coach Nadine Muzerall. In six of those seasons the Buckeyes have won at least 20 games.
With the tremendous foundation Muzerall has built during her time in Columbus, those numbers are only going to increase over the years. There’s no question that Muzerall has turned Ohio State into the premier women’s ice hockey program in the country right now.
Continue reading...