Ohio State Buckeyes emerged as the new NCAA champions by defeating the Wisconsin Badgers in a fiercely contested match.
Repeating a 2023 championship grudge match that saw the Badgers emerge victorious with the same 1-0 scoreline.
Joy Dunne, the national rookie of the year, scored the game-changing goal of this evenly contested match, featuring the two top-ranked teams nationwide.
“That was one helluva game,” said Ohio State head coach Nadine Muzerall. “Whoever scored in the third I thought was going to win the game, just because it was such a good defensive side of the game from both teams. … It was just a feeling of if we can get to that one and then bear down defensively, we could win this thing.”
Ohio State won the Women’s Frozen Four Championship in 2022, but lost in 2023.
They fell to the only other team to win since 2019: Wisconsin.
Today, in front of the 3rd-largest crowd in women’s title game history, OSU beat their rival to win it all again.pic.twitter.com/KjEcmWJ2Kr
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) March 25, 2024
Despite being a high-scoring season for both teams, the Badgers with 205 goals and the Buckeyes with 200, the championship match turned into an intense defensive effort with little room for error.
Both sides were held under 30 shots, with Ohio State marginally outshooting Wisconsin 28-26. There was no shortage of blocked shots either, tallying up to nearly 40 combined, with Wisconsin edging out a narrow 20-17 advantage.
“It seemed as the third period was going on, it was going to be who would get to one first,” Wisconsin coach Mark Johnson said. “There weren’t a lot of quality scoring opportunities at both ends and so it’s going to come down to one play. They made the play, they (won) the game and it hurts.”
An impressive 4,378 spectators filled the Whittemore Center Arena; This was the third-largest crowd mark recorded in women’s NCAA hockey championship history and the largest since the Minneapolis final back in 2006.
Under Muzerall’s leadership, the Buckeyes transformed drastically from an average program to NCAA champions.
Buckingham to this success were players who sought winning glory such as Bilka and Barnes.
“As much as I took a chance on Ohio State, Ohio State took a chance on me because I was just a second assistant at Minnesota, my alma mater. We had a lot of success, but a lot of people at Ohio State believed in me,” Muzerall said. “With the support staff, with the players that we recruit, it’s been a lot easier because people want to come. It was harder in the beginning because we don’t have the geographical location, we don’t have the rink, it’s hard to draw kids in, but obviously winning helps. … And I want to push to (win) three and more.”
The defeat marks the Badgers’ 11th appearance in the national championship game, having garnered an impressive seven NCAA titles to date, the most by any school nationwide.
