After back-to-back NCAA national championship losses, the Ohio State women's hockey team have evolved from "fierce but young" to a group of veterans hungry for a title says head coach Nadine Muzerall.
For two straight seasons, the Ohio State Buckeyes have fallen just short in the NCAA women's hockey national championship game. Both times, those losses have come at the hands of their WCHA rivals, the Wisconsin Badgers.
In those seasons, the Buckeyes felt their youth. This season however, the once "fierce but young" Ohio State roster is filled with hungry veterans. It's a group that includes seniors Joy Dunne and Jocelyn Amos, and rising superstars like Hilda Svensson, Sanni Vanhanen, Mira Jungaker, and Maxine Cimoroni.
"I'm really excited. We have a lot of experience coming back," said Ohio State head coach Nadine Muzerall. "You know, over the past couple years, we've been a young team, fierce but young. This year, we have a lot of veterans in a role that are very hungry and with a lot of young talent with our sophomores and our our freshman."
Ohio State feels their group of incoming rookies, players like Hayley MacDonald, Alide Korte, Ema Tothova, and Kate Veil, along with transfers Rylee Bartz and Ellah Hause, are game changers. Coupled with their veteran leaders, there's only one goal.
"Give a lot of credit to my coaching staff for bringing in what we think is the finest group in our freshman class and we're looking forward to people like Joy (Dunne) and (Jocelyn) Amos being their leaders and guiding us to that victory that we're prepping for at the end of the year."
While there are still many young players entering their rookie and sophomore seasons at Ohio State, it's the mix that is exciting for Muzerall. She has Hilda Svensson, the NCAA Rookie of the Year, and fellow European Olympians Mia Jungaker, Jenna Raunio, and Sanni Vanhanen. They also possess veteran leadership in Amos and Dunne.
"It's very nice, what's great about them in terms of their ability to score is their ability to lead. And they all lead in their own way," Muzerall said of her top players.
Voted the best team in the WCHA by coaches in their preseason poll, it's not just Muzerall who sees the talented players at Ohio State's disposal, and who knows what potential the group has; the entire NCAA can see it.
Ohio State opens their season with a road series against Penn State September 24 and 25. Their first home series of the season will be against Wisconsin on October 9 and 10, and they'll play a highlight game in February against Wisconsin outdoors at Green Bay's Lambeau Field.
