Women's Hockey Skates to 3-3 Tie With Buckeyes
November 22, 2002 | Women's Hockey
The transition from the soccer field to the ice rink started smooth as Amy Vermeulen (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) scored the game-tying goal in Wisconsin's 3-3 deadlock with Ohio State on Friday at Capitol Ice Arena.
The Badgers pressured the Buckeyes to start the game, but failed to put many shots on goal. However, a shot by Jackie Friesen (Regina, Saskatchewan) at 11:32 beat Ohio State's April Stojak and put the Badgers up 1-0. Kendra Antony (Yorkton, Saskatchewan) skated down the right side of the ice and centered to Friesen, who drove to the net. The forward redirected the pass past the Stojak for her team-leading seventh tally.
The lead didn't last long. Melissa Pirie took advantage of the lively boards and picked up Katie Frohreich's shot the bounced off the backboards and back in front of the goal. Pirie found the carom and beat Jackie MacMillan (Buffalo, Minn.) for the equalizer.
The teams skated to a scoreless second period, with the Buckeyes keeping Wisconsin pinned in its own zone for most of the 20 minutes. The Badgers played strong the last five minutes and went into the second intermission with the momentum.
Antony scored at 1:08 of the third period to show reward for Wisconsin's burst. Just as Friesen redirected Antony's pass to open the scoring, Antony drove to the net and redirected Meghan Hunter's (Oil Springs, Ontario) centering pass for the goal.
Ohio State scored to tie the game for a second time at 13:51 after Jana Harrigan won a face off to teammate Jennifer Desson. Desson's shot was saved, but Heather Farrell poked home the rebound to make it 2-2.
Jeni Creary gave OSU its first lead of the game with a goal at 17:19. Wisconsin turned the puck over just outside its own blue line and Emma Laaksonen got the puck into space for Creary along the right side. The sophomore skated into the UW zone and fired a slapper from the face-off dot that beat MacMillan.
Less than one minute later, Vermeulen scored her first goal in her first appearance of the season, completing the Saskatchewan hat trick. Sis Paulsen (Eau Claire, Wis.) won the puck behind the Badger goal and fed Hunter along the left boards. The junior skated the length of the ice along the boards until reaching the OSU hash marks. Vermeulen trailed the play high in the slot and took Hunter's pass. The sophomore 's wrist shot found room between Stojak's pads and went in for the game-tying score at 18:11. The shot gave the Badgers two goals on two third-period shots.
In the overtime, Ohio State had a chance on the power play, but failed to convert, like it did the four previous times. Wisconsin went scoreless during all four of its power-play chances.
MacMillan stopped 18 shots and stands 7-4-2. Stojak made 10 saves and now sits 2-5-1.
Wisconsin (7-4-2, 1-4-2 WCHA) returns to the ice tomorrow to face the same Ohio State Buckeyes (3-8-2, 2-5-2). The teams meet 7:05 p.m. at Capitol Ice Arena. Admission is free with ticket stub from Saturday's UW football game against Minnesota.
