Port Moody’s Jenna Buglioni scored the first of three unanswered goals to spark a 3-1 comeback win by her Ohio State women’s hockey team over Boston College Tuesday and put the Buckeyes into the Frozen Four at the NCAA’s national championship in Erie, Pa.
Third-seed Ohio State will play second-ranked Wisconsin in Thursday’s semi-final, a rematch of their recent conference championship game that was won by the Badgers, 3-2 in overtime.
The Buckeyes were trailing Boston College, 1-0, when Buglioni connected on a power play with 3:27 left to play in the second period. It was the Gleneagle secondary grad’s eighth goal of the season, tying her with Ohio State’s top scorers, Tatum Skaggs and Jennifer Gardner.
Less than three minutes later, Brooke Bink scored what proved to be the winning goal, just before the teams headed into their dressing rooms for the second intermission.
Gabby Rosenthal added an insurance goal 13:30 into the third period.
After a fairly even first period in which each team fired five shots on net, the Buckeyes dominated the final two frames, outshooting the Eagles 43-8.
“We played relentlessly today,” said Ohio State head coach Nadine Muzerall. “We were a little bit back on our heels but regrouped and dominated in the second and third and were rewarded for our success.”
The win over Boston College was a reprise of Ohio State’s last trip to the Frozen Four, when the Buckeyes defeated the Eagles 2-0 in the quarterfinals in 2018. Ohio State lost its semi-final, 1-0 in overtime, to Clarkson, the tournament's eventual champion.
Top-seed Northeastern will play fifth-ranked Minnesota Duluth in Thursday's other semi-final.
Meanwhile, Port Moody’s other hockey prodigy, Kent Johnson, awaits word whether his University of Michigan Wolverines will be among the 16 teams selected to play in the 2021 NCAA men’s hockey championships.
Johnson, a freshman who's projected to be a high pick in this summer's NHL entry draft, scored the opening goal on a power play 3:44 into Monday’s semi-final of the Big 10 conference championship in South Bend, Ind., but the seventh-ranked Wolverines went on to lose to fourth-ranked Minnesota, 3-2 in overtime.
Teams for the single-elimination championship tournament that concludes with the semi-finals and final in Pittsburgh, Pa. in April, will be determined on Sunday.
