Ohio State women's hockey moves on in league championship tournament

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Ohio State University's women's hockey team moved on in the 2023 Kwik Trip Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) Final Faceoff tournament Saturday, winning a best-of-three series against Bemidji State in two games.

The Buckeyes beat the Beavers 2-1 Saturday following a 4-1 Buckeye win Friday at the Ohio State Ice Rink.

Ohio State freshman Sloane Matthews scored the first goal for the Buckeyes two minutes into the game, with Jenn Gardiner scoring the second Buckeye goal at 16:17 in the third period.

The Beavers tried to mount a comeback when Bemidji State scored a power-play goal at 17:37 in the fourth. However, Ohio State goalie Amanda Thiele and the Buckeyes kept the Beavers to just one goal. In total, Thiele had 15 saves on the day.

Gardiner's goal was her fourth game-winning goal this season, adding to her 54 points on the year. Thiele is now 17-2-1 in goal for Ohio State this year, and Matthews' goal was her first in six games and fifth on the season.

The No. 1-seed Buckeyes (30-4-2, 23-4-1 WCHA), the WCHA regular season conference champions, will next play the fourth-seed Minnesota Duluth at the Ridder Arena at the University of Minnesota on Friday, March 3, in the semifinals of the conference tournament. The second semifinal features Minnesota and Wisconsin.

The winners of the two semifinal games will then face off Saturday, March 4.