Ohio State Buckeyes women's ice hockey

Ohio State Buckeyes
Institution:	Ohio State University
Location:	Columbus, Ohio
School founded:	1870
Enrollment:	61,391
Colors:	Scarlet and Gray
Home Arena:	OSU Ice Rink
Capacity:	1,415
Women's Team
Conference:	Western Collegiate Hockey Association
Coach:	Nadine Muzerall
Conf. Championships:	2020

The Ohio State Buckeyes women’s ice hockey team represents Ohio State University in NCAA Division I competition in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. The team plays homegames at OSU Ice Rink, located on the Ohio State campus in Columbus, Ohio.

History

The Buckeyes competed in the WCHA championship in March 2001. Ohio State defeated St. Cloud State in the first round. In the next round, the Buckeyes blanked No. 1 Minnesota to advance to the championship final. The Buckeyes were defeated by eventual national champion Minnesota Duluth. The Buckeyes had an 18-16-3 overall record, including 11-10-3 in the WCHA. The Buckeyes finished No. 8 in the national polls. During the regular season, the Buckeyes were 12-5-1 in their last 18 contests and finished 7-1-0. The 2001-02 season had a breakthrough season by defeating several nationally ranked teams. OSU upset No. 3 New Hampshire and No. 4 St. Lawrence and also tied No. 6 Dartmouth. Five players received postseason honors. Jeni Creary was named the WCHA Rookie of the Year and All-WCHA First Team selection after leading the nation in scoring for the first half of the season. Emma Laaksonen earned JOFA/AHCA Second Team All-America accolades and All-WCHA Second Team honors despite missing 10 games while representing her native Finland at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. In 2006-07 season, Ohio State reached the 20-win mark for the first time in program history. The team finished with a 20-13-4 mark. In addition, the team set the record for the Buckeyes’ longest unbeaten streak at 10 games (9-0-1, Oct. 28-Dec. 8). Ohio State also posted a team-best 30 points in the WCHA with a 13-11-4 conference mark. The Buckeyes had a 12-5-3 home record at OSU Ice Rink. The Buckeyes finished fourth in the league standings. OSU swept Minnesota State in the best-of-three series and advanced to the WCHA semifinals against eventual national champion Wisconsin. The Buckeyes completed the season as the 10th-ranked team in both the USCHO.com and USA Hockey national polls. Jackie Barto recorded her 200th career win November 24, 2007 with a 4-1 victory against St. Cloud State at the OSU Ice Rink. In 2008, Tessa Bonhomme was Ohio State's first two-time Top 10 finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, given to the top Division I women's hockey student-athlete in the nation. She was also the team captain of the 2007-08 Buckeyes. Bonhomme also made Ohio State history when she was named both WCHA Player of the Year and WCHA Defensive Player of the Year, becoming the first Buckeye to receive either award. Last spring, Liana Bonanno became the program's first ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America at-large selection, earning a place on the third team. Jody Heywood also was a two-time finalist for the Hockey Humanitarian Award in 2007 and '08, the first Buckeye on either men's or women's teams to be a finalist for the award.

Natalie Spooner scored 21 goals in 2009 to lead the Buckeyes and rank seventh in the OSU single-season records. She had a six-game point streak, Nov. 15-Jan. 9, that included a five-game goal streak to tie for the second-longest in Buckeye history. On December 12, 2008, Natalie Spooner set the Ohio State record for goals in a game with four in a 6-5 win at Minnesota State. She scored a natural hat trick in the second period of that game with three goals in a span of 1 minute, 56 seconds.The opening game of the 2009-10 season was Jackie Barto's 500th career game behind the bench.

Laura McIntosh was recognized as WCHA Offensive player of the week for October 19, 2011. She had a record-breaking weekend in the Buckeyes’ conference series sweep over St. Cloud State. During the series, she produced four scoring points, seven shots on goal and a +5 plus/minus rating. On October 14, she notched her first goal of the season to give the Buckeyes a 2-1 lead. Said goal would stand as the game-winner. In addition, she picked up an assist on a Hokey Langan goal. The assist made McIntosh Ohio State’s all-time leader in career points against WCHA opponents. She surpassed Jana Harrigan’s 110 league points set in 2006. The following day, she would accumulate another pair of points. She assisted on Ally Tarr’s shorthanded, game-winning goal at 10:45 in the first. At 12:10 in the first period, she scored the Buckeyes third goal of the game.

In a January 27, 2012 defeat of the North Dakota Fighting Sioux, three Buckeyes reached milestones. Laura McIntosh finished the game with three assists as the Buckeyes prevailed by a 6-2 mark. Natalie Spooner totaled two goals and Hokey Langan finished with two assists. McIntosh’s three helpers moved her into a tie for the all-time lead on Ohio State’s all-time career points list. Her 160 career points are now tied with former Buckeye Jana Harrigan. The two goals by Spooner were both on the power-play (increasing her season total to seven). With the goals, Spooner reached the 150 career point plateau, moving her into third all-time in Ohio State history. The two assists from Langan helped her reached the 100-point milestone, only the eighth Buckeyes player to reach the mark.

Arenas

• OSU Ice Rink (1999-present)

Head Coaches

• Jackie Barto (1999-2011) 158-206-38
• Nate Handrahan (2011-2015) 67-64-15
• Jenny Schmidgall-Potter (2015-2016) 10-25-1
• Nadine Muzerall (2016-present) 82-50-17 as of end of 2019-20 season

Year by Year Record

Season	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts	Finish	Conference Tournament	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA
Conference										Overall Record
1999-00	24	6	15	3	45	74	15	5th	W, QF 3-2 (St. Cloud St) L, SF 7-1 (Minnesota-Duluth) W, 3P 4-2 (Wisconsin)	37	8	26	3	59	126
2000-01	24	11	10	3	76	65	25	5th	W, QF 5-0 (St. Cloud St) W, SF 4-0 (Minnesota) L, F 3-0 (Minnesota-Duluth)	37	18	16	3	119	96
2001-02	24	9	12	3	53	59	21	4th	W, QF 5-3 (Bemidji St) L, SF 4-1 (Minnesota) L, 3P 6-2 (Minnesota-Duluth)	37	18	15	4	90	91
2002-03	24	8	13	3	56	76	19	4th	W, QF 4-3 (ot) (Bemidji St) L, SF 6-1 (Minnesota-Duluth) L, 3P 4-1 (Wisconsin)	37	12	22	3	88	114
2003-04	24	10	12	2	51	69	22	5th	W, QF 3-1 (Minnesota St) L, SF 5-1 (Minnesota) L, 3P 5-4 (ot) (Wisconsin)	35	16	16	3	83	90
2004-05	28	10	15	3	73	97	23	4th	W, QF 4-1 (Minnesota St) L, SF 7-1 (Minnesota) L, 3P 5-0 (Minnesota-Duluth)	37	17	17	3	99	124
2005-06	28	12	15	1	68	89	25	5th	L, QF 2 games to none (St. Cloud St)	36	13	18	5	87	107
2006-07	28	13	11	4	79	70	30	4th	W, QF 2 games to none (Minnesota St) L, SF 4-0 (Wisconsin)	37	20	13	4	112	87
2007-08	28	11	14	3	81	94	25	5th	L, QF 2 games to 1 (St. Cloud St.)	37	17	17	3	108	115
2008-09	28	6	20	2	66	135	14	7th	L, QF 2 games to none (Wisconsin)	36	8	25	3	82	166
2009-10	28	12	13	3	90	94	27	6th	W, QF 2 games to none (Wisconsin) L, SF 5-4 (2ot) (Minnesota)	37	17	15	5	122	117
2010-11	28	8	17	3	69	100	19	6th	L, QF 2 games to none (Minnesota)	36	14	19	3	99	116
2011-12	28	13	14	1	75	96	27	6th	L, QF 2 games to none (Minnesota-Duluth)	36	16	16	4	99	115
2012-13	28	12	13	3	75	80	27	5th	W, QF 2 games to none (Minnesota-Duluth) L, SF 5-0 (Minnesota)	37	19	15	3	107	96
2013-14	28	9	14	5	56	75	23	5th	L, QF 2 games to 1 (Minnesota-Duluth)	37	15	17	5	82	90
2014-15	28	12	13	3	60	61	27	6th	L, QF 2 games to none (North Dakota)	36	17	16	3	82	76
2015-16	28	6	21	1	58	110	13	7th	L, QF 2 games to none (Minnesota)	36	10	25	1	80	134
2016-17	27	7	16	4	40	73	18	5th	L, QF 2 games to 1 (North Dakota)	37	14	18	5	69	82
2017-18	24	14	6	4	63	51	32	2nd	W, QF 2 games to none (Minnesota St) L, SF 2-0 (Minnesota)	39	24	11	4	112	77
2018-19	24	12	10	2	57	58	26	3rd	W, QF 2 games to none (Minnesota St) L, SF 3-2 (Wisconsin)	35	20	13	2	96	82
2019-20	24	13	6	5	81	56	31	1st	W, QF 1-0 (Minnesota St) W, SF 4-3 (ot) (Minnesota) W, 1-0 (ot) (Wisconsin)	38	24	8	6	121	82
2020-21	16	11	5	0	42	32	32	3rd	W, SF 7-2 (Minnesota-Duluth) L, F 3-2 (ot) (Wisconsin)	20	13	7	0	56	42

NCAA Tournament Appearances

Season	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Championship
NCAA Division I Women's Ice Hockey Tournament Championship
2018	W, 2-0 (Boston College)	L, 1-0 (ot) (Clarkson)	--
NCAA Women's Ice Hockey Tournament Championship
2020	Tournament cancelled prior first round by NCAA due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021	W, 3-1 (Boston College)	L, 4-2 (Wisconsin)	--

Coaches

Jackie Barto served as the first head coach of the Ohio State women's ice hockey team from 1999-2011. Barto has led Ohio State to a program record of 178-209-42 (.464). During Barto’s first 10 years as coach, Ohio State has received a total of 14 All-WCHA honors. Barto served on the NCAA Women's Ice Hockey Championship Committee from 2000 to 2006 and also is a member of the American Women's Hockey Coaches Association. She retired in April 2011 after 12 seasons as head coach of OSU and 27 seasons of coaching in total.

Nate Handrahan became the second coach in program history in May 2011. He coached the team for four seasons, with a combined record of 67-64-15. He resigned on March 9, 2015 amid a sexual harassment investigation. On April 12, Jenny Schmidgall-Potter was announced as the program's third head coach.

Buckeyes in professional hockey

Amber Bowman	Toronto Furies	CWHL
Tessa Bonhomme	Toronto Furies	CWHL
Natalie Spooner	Toronto Furies	CWHL
Laura McIntosh	Brampton	CWHL
Erika Vanderveer	Toronto Furies	CWHL

International

On the international level, Jackie Barto led the U.S. Women's National Team to the gold medal at the 2008 IIHF World Women's Championship in Harbin, China. Barto also guided the U.S. Women's Select Team to a silver medal at the Four Nations Cup in November 2007. She was named head coach of the U.S. Women's Under-22 Team for 2008-09, after serving as head coach of the U.S. Women's National and Select teams in 2007-08. She was a member of the selection committee for the 2006 Winter Olympic U.S. National Women's Hockey team. She was also an assistant coach for the 2003 U.S. Women's Under-22 Select Team. In August 1999, she was one of four head coaches at the USA Hockey Women's Festival in Lake Placid, N.Y. and was an assistant coach there in 1998.

Natalie Spooner was a member of the Canadian National Women’s Team for the 2008 4 Nations Cup in November. Spooner also competed for the 2009-10 Canada Under 22 Hockey team. On January 8, 2010, Spooner scored 4:59 into overtime, giving Canada’s National Women’s Under-22 Team a 4-3 victory over Sweden on Friday and sent Canada to the gold medal game at the 2010 MLP Cup. Canada would win the gold medal.

Olympians

|- ! scope="col" style="background-color:#CE0F3D;color:#FFFFFF;" |Player ! scope="col" style="background-color:#CE0F3D;color:#FFFFFF;" |Position ! scope="col" style="background-color:#CE0F3D;color:#FFFFFF;" |Nationality ! scope="col" style="background-color:#CE0F3D;color:#FFFFFF;" |Event |-

Emma Laaksonen	Defense	Finland	1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 Winter Olympics
Tessa Bonhomme	Defense	Canada	2010 Winter Olympics
Lisa Chesson	Defense	United States	2010 Winter Olympics
Natalie Spooner	Forward	United States	2014, 2018 Winter Olympics
Sara Säkkinen	Forward	Finland	2018 Winter Olympics

Awards and honors

• Tessa Bonhomme, Top 10 finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award (2007)
• Tessa Bonhomme, Top 10 finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award (2008)
• Tessa Bonhomme, WCHA Player of the Year
• Tessa Bonhomme, WCHA Defensive Player of the Year
• Tessa Bonhomme, Third Team All-USCHO (2006–07)
• Tessa Bonhomme, First Team All-WCHA (2006–07)
• Tessa Bonhomme, WCHA All-Tournament Team (2006–07)
• Tessa Bonhomme, Buckeyes Most Valuable Defensive Player (2004–05)
• Tessa Bonhomme, Buckeyes Most Valuable Freshman (2003–04).
• Liana Bonanno, ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America at-large selection, earning a place on the third team.
• Jeni Creary Top 10 finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award (2002)
• Jeni Creary was named the WCHA Rookie of the Year (2002)
• Jeni Creary, All-WCHA First Team selection (2002)
• Rachel Davis, 2010 Frozen Four Skills Competition participant
• Jincy Dunne, WCHA Rookie of the Month, January 2017
• Jana Harrigan AHCA Second Team All-America pick (2006)
• Jana Harrigan Top 10 finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award (2006)
• Jody Heywood, finalist, Hockey Humanitarian Award in 2007
• Jody Heywood, finalist, Hockey Humanitarian Award in 2008
• Emma Laaksonen WCHA Student-Athlete of the Year (2004)
• Emma Laaksonen Top 10 finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award (2002)
• Emma Laaksonen, JOFA/AHCA Second Team All-America accolades (2002)
• Emma Laaksonen, All-WCHA Second Team honors (2002)
• Hokey Langan, 2010 Patty Kazmaier Award nominee
• Corinne Rosen, WCHA all-tournament team (2001)
• Kassidy Sauve, 2014-15 WCHA All-Rookie Team
• Natalie Spooner, 2010 and 2011 Patty Kazmaier Award nominee
• April Stojak, WCHA all-tournament team (2001)

All-America recognition

• Tessa Bonhomme, AHCA All-America honors (2008)
• Tessa Bonhomme, AHCA Second Team All-America pick (2007)
• Jincy Dunne, 2017-18 Second Team All-America
• Emma Laaksonen AHCA Second Team All-America pick (2002)
• Kassidy Sauve, 2016-17 Second Team All-America
• Natalie Spooner, 2011-12 CCM Hockey Women’s Division I All-American: Second Team

See also

• Ohio State Buckeyes men's ice hockey
• List of college women's ice hockey coaches with 250 wins

External links

• WCHA Women's website
• Ohio State Buckeyes women's ice hockey website