University Ohio State University Colors Scarlet and Gray | Location Columbus, Ohio Arena OSU Ice Rink | |
Head coach Nadine K. Muzerall
1st year Conference Western Collegiate Hockey Association | ||
The Ohio State Buckeyes women’s ice hockey team represents Ohio State University in NCAA Division I competition in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. The team plays homegames at OSU Ice Rink, located on the Ohio State campus in Columbus, Ohio.
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History
The Buckeyes competed in the WCHA championship in March 2001. Ohio State defeated St. Cloud State in the first round. In the next round, the Buckeyes blanked No. 1 Minnesota to advance to the championship final. The Buckeyes were defeated by eventual national champion Minnesota Duluth. The Buckeyes had an 18-16-3 overall record, including 11-10-3 in the WCHA. The Buckeyes finished No. 8 in the national polls. During the regular season, the Buckeyes were 12-5-1 in their last 18 contests and finished 7-1-0. The 2001-02 season had a breakthrough season by defeating several nationally ranked teams. OSU upset No. 3 New Hampshire and No. 4 St. Lawrence and also tied No. 6 Dartmouth. Five players received postseason honors. Jeni Creary was named the WCHA Rookie of the Year and All-WCHA First Team selection after leading the nation in scoring for the first half of the season. Emma Laaksonen earned JOFA/AHCA Second Team All-America accolades and All-WCHA Second Team honors despite missing 10 games while representing her native Finland at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games.
In 2006-07 season, Ohio State reached the 20-win mark for the first time in program history. The team finished with a 20-13-4 mark. In addition, the team set the record for the Buckeyes’ longest unbeaten streak at 10 games (9-0-1, Oct. 28-Dec. 8). Ohio State also posted a team-best 30 points in the WCHA with a 13-11-4 conference mark. The Buckeyes had a 12-5-3 home record at OSU Ice Rink. The Buckeyes finished fourth in the league standings. OSU swept Minnesota State in the best-of-three series and advanced to the WCHA semifinals against eventual national champion Wisconsin. The Buckeyes completed the season as the 10th-ranked team in both the USCHO.com and USA Hockey national polls.
Jackie Barto recorded her 200th career win November 24, 2007 with a 4-1 victory against St. Cloud State at the OSU Ice Rink. In 2008, Tessa Bonhomme was Ohio State's first two-time Top 10 finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, given to the top Division I women's hockey student-athlete in the nation. She was also the team captain of the 2007-08 Buckeyes. Bonhomme also made Ohio State history when she was named both WCHA Player of the Year and WCHA Defensive Player of the Year, becoming the first Buckeye to receive either award. Last spring, Liana Bonanno became the program's first ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America at-large selection, earning a place on the third team. Jody Heywood also was a two-time finalist for the Hockey Humanitarian Award in 2007 and '08, the first Buckeye on either men's or women's teams to be a finalist for the award.
Natalie Spooner scored 21 goals in 2009 to lead the Buckeyes and rank seventh in the OSU single-season records. She had a six-game point streak, Nov. 15-Jan. 9, that included a five-game goal streak to tie for the second-longest in Buckeye history. On December 12, 2008, Natalie Spooner set the Ohio State record for goals in a game with four in a 6-5 win at Minnesota State. She scored a natural hat trick in the second period of that game with three goals in a span of 1 minute, 56 seconds. The opening game of the 2009-10 season was Jackie Barto's 500th career game behind the bench.
Laura McIntosh was recognized as WCHA Offensive player of the week for October 19, 2011. She had a record-breaking weekend in the Buckeyes’ conference series sweep over St. Cloud State. During the series, she produced four scoring points, seven shots on goal and a +5 plus/minus rating. On October 14, she notched her first goal of the season to give the Buckeyes a 2-1 lead. Said goal would stand as the game-winner. In addition, she picked up an assist on a Hokey Langan goal. The assist made McIntosh Ohio State’s all-time leader in career points against WCHA opponents. She surpassed Jana Harrigan’s 110 league points set in 2006. The following day, she would accumulate another pair of points. She assisted on Ally Tarr’s shorthanded, game-winning goal at 10:45 in the first. At 12:10 in the first period, she scored the Buckeyes third goal of the game.
In a January 27, 2012 defeat of the North Dakota Fighting Sioux, three Buckeyes reached milestones. Laura McIntosh finished the game with three assists as the Buckeyes prevailed by a 6-2 mark. Natalie Spooner totaled two goals and Hokey Langan finished with two assists. McIntosh’s three helpers moved her into a tie for the all-time lead on Ohio State’s all-time career points list. Her 160 career points are now tied with former Buckeye Jana Harrigan. The two goals by Spooner were both on the power-play (increasing her season total to seven). With the goals, Spooner reached the 150 career point plateau, moving her into third all-time in Ohio State history. The two assists from Langan helped her reached the 100-point milestone, only the eighth Buckeyes player to reach the mark.
Coaches
Jackie Barto served as the first head coach of the Ohio State women's ice hockey team from 1999-2011. Barto has led Ohio State to a program record of 178-209-42 (.464). During Barto’s first 10 years as coach, Ohio State has received a total of 14 All-WCHA honors. Barto served on the NCAA Women's Ice Hockey Championship Committee from 2000 to 2006 and also is a member of the American Women's Hockey Coaches Association. She retired in April 2011 after 12 seasons as head coach of OSU and 27 seasons of coaching in total.
Nate Handrahan became the second coach in program history in May 2011. He coached the team for four seasons, with a combined record of 67-64-15. He resigned on March 9, 2015 amid a sexual harassment investigation. On April 12, Jenny Schmidgall-Potter was announced as the program's third head coach.
International
On the international level, Jackie Barto led the U.S. Women's National Team to the gold medal at the 2008 IIHF World Women's Championship in Harbin, China. Barto also guided the U.S. Women's Select Team to a silver medal at the Four Nations Cup in November 2007. She was named head coach of the U.S. Women's Under-22 Team for 2008-09, after serving as head coach of the U.S. Women's National and Select teams in 2007-08. She was a member of the selection committee for the 2006 Winter Olympic U.S. National Women's Hockey team. She was also an assistant coach for the 2003 U.S. Women's Under-22 Select Team. In August 1999, she was one of four head coaches at the USA Hockey Women's Festival in Lake Placid, N.Y. and was an assistant coach there in 1998.
Natalie Spooner was a member of the Canadian National Women’s Team for the 2008 4 Nations Cup in November. Spooner also competed for the 2009-10 Canada Under 22 Hockey team. On January 8, 2010, Spooner scored 4:59 into overtime, giving Canada’s National Women’s Under-22 Team a 4-3 victory over Sweden on Friday and sent Canada to the gold medal game at the 2010 MLP Cup. Canada would win the gold medal.