Ohio State heats up the ice with a 1-0-1 opening weekend

The Ohio State Buckeyes men’s hockey team wasted no time in proving why it’s what one of the top squads in the country, taking home the title in the 23rd Ice Breaker Tournament in Toledo. Over the weekend, the 12th-ranked Buckeyes tied Western Michigan 2-2 in overtime Friday before defeating RIT 3-1 Saturday.

Friday night marked the season opener for Ohio State. After three periods of play, which included scores from redshirt senior forward Miguel Fidler and senior defenseman Matt Miller, the Buckeyes entered into three overtime periods and emerged with an official tie for the record books. But given the tournament format of the weekend, Ohio State ultimately recorded a win in a five-round shootout on a score from sophomore forward Quinn Preston.

In their second game against RIT, the Buckeyes fell behind in the first period on the Tigers’ lone goal of the day. Ohio State fought back on the trail of two goals from senior forward Ronnie Hein, including a power play effort which put the Buckeyes up one in the third period.

Next up, the Buckeyes, who are sitting at 1-0-1 after their opening weekend, head back to Columbus for their home opener when they face Omaha in a two-game series this weekend.

Unfortunately, the women’s ice hockey team, which had gotten off to a hot start of its own early, hit its first roadblock of the nascent season this past weekend when it fell to No. 1 Wisconsin in a two-game series. The Badgers shut out the eighth-ranked Buckeyes 3-0 Friday night and followed up with a 7-3 win Saturday on the heels of four power play goals. Junior forward Liz Schepers led the Buckeyes with two goals Saturday, while freshman forward Brooke Bink added the second goal of her short Ohio State career. The teams were tied heading into the third period of play, but the Badgers took over with a 4-0 scoring run. In the end, Wisconsin more than doubled up Ohio State’s shot total, finishing with 43 shots to the Buckeyes’ 21. With the losses over the weekend, the Buckeyes fall to 4-2 on the season, but have a chance to bounce back with a two-game series against Minnesota State in Mankato, Minnesota Friday and Saturday.

On the turf, the No. 18 Ohio State field hockey team fared no better over the weekend, falling 2-1 in overtime to eleventh-ranked Michigan Friday and 3-1 to No. 16 Stanford Sunday. In Friday’s tightly-contested matchup, both teams were held scoreless through the third period until the Wolverines opened things up in the fourth. Mackenzie Allessie, the Big Ten’s most recent Freshman of the Week, tied things up quickly with the goal that would carry both teams to overtime. Allessie leads the team with a dozen goals on the year thus far. Unfortunately, the Buckeyes would come up short on offense as Michigan found the winning goal in overtime.

Sunday, Ohio State was unable to contain the Cardinal’s Corinne Zanolli, who scored all three of Stanford’s goals on the afternoon. Sophomore midfielder Emma Goldean tallied Ohio State’s lone score on the day at the end of regulation.

With the losses, Ohio State falls to 6-6 on the season and just 1-3 in conference play. The Buckeyes will have a chance at redemption Friday when they face Rutgers at home.

Both women’s and men’s soccer likewise struggled in their matchups over the last week. The women left West Lafayette Thursday with a 0-0 draw versus Purdue, and fell to Indiana 1-0 Sunday in Bloomington. After these matches, the women are sitting at 4-8-2 on the season, including 2-4-1 in conference play. In the most recent matchup, the Hoosiers scored less than 10 minutes into play, but the Buckeyes could not find any success on offense to counter despite five shots on goal. The women will be back in action against Northwestern Thursday night in Columbus.

The men, meanwhile, fell 3-2 to Cleveland State Saturday in Columbus. Cleveland State went up early, scoring the match’s opening goal in the 15th minute. The Vikings increased their lead in the second half with another score in the 53rd minute, but the Buckeyes would come back to tie things up quickly on two goals from junior forward Matteo Bennati and senior midfielder Jack Holland. A goal in the 66th minute by Cleveland State, however, would seal the win for the Vikings. With the loss, the men fall to 6-5-1 on the year, including 1-2-1 in Big Ten play. The men’s team looks to rebound Wednesday when they travel to face No. 16 Kentucky in Lexington.

In what seems to have been an unfortunate theme last week, the men’s golf team also struggled, falling to Florida State in the Jack Nicklaus Invitational hosted at Muirfield Village Golf Club. The Buckeyes fell 2-3-1 in the individual match play format. However, Ohio State will have a chance at redemption this week as the Buckeyes travel to the Crooked Stick Invitational, hosted by Indiana and Purdue in Carmel, Indiana.

The women’s golf team fared somewhat better over the weekend, tying for third at the Tar Heel Invitational hosted by North Carolina. The Buckeyes finished with a score of 855, just three strokes behind champion Michigan State in the 18-team field. Individually, sophomore Aneka Seumanutafa led the team with a seven-under par performance, giving her a third-place overall finish of her own.

Women’s volleyball reported mixed results on the weekend, sweeping Rutgers 3-0 before themselves being swept by No. 8 Penn State 3-0. With the weekend results, Ohio State is sitting at an even 9-9 on the season, but with just a 2-4 record in Big Ten play. The Buckeyes will get a chance to bounce back when they take on Iowa Wednesday at the Covelli Center in Columbus.