No. 5 Ohio State hands Gophers women's hockey first loss of season

The Buckeyes scored two power-play goals in the victory.

Abbey Murphy fires a shot. / Gopher Athletics

The second-ranked Gophers women’s hockey team fell 4-3 to No. 5 Ohio State Friday night in Columbus, Ohio, its first loss of the season.

The Gophers (4-1-0) struggled on the penalty kill as the Buckeyes converted on 2 of 3 power-play chances. Kiara Zanon scored a power-play goal 15 minutes, 23 seconds into the second period to give the Buckeyes (5-2-0) a 3-1 advantage, and Jenna Buglioni pushed it back to a two-goal advantage with a power-play goal 6:20 into the third that made it 4-2. 

Gracie Graham scored for the U with the extra attacker with 9 seconds remaining, but the Gophers weren’t able to overcome the two-goal deficit late.

The Buckeyes struck first when Joy Dunne scored 3 minutes, 28 seconds into the first. 

Abbey Murphy tied it up 1 minute, 36 seconds later, but Jocelyn Amos put Ohio State back ahead with just 32 seconds remaining in the first period for a 2-1 lead at the break. 

Emma Kreisz scored for the Gophers 2 minutes, 16 seconds into the third period to cut the U’s deficit to 3-2, but Buglioni’s goal made the deficit too much to overcome. 

Gophers goalie Skylar Vetter stopped 21 of the Buckeyes’ 25 shots on net. 

Ohio State’s Amanda Thiele stopped 24 of 27 Gophers shots.   

The Gophers and Buckeyes meet again in Columbus on Saturday for a 2 p.m. puck drop.