Sloane Matthews scored late in the third period to lift Ohio State over Clarkson, punching the Buckeyes' ticket to the NCAA Women's Hockey Championship final.
Sloane Matthews scored late in the third period to lift Ohio State over Clarkson, punching the Buckeyes' ticket to the NCAA Women's Hockey Championship final.
DURHAM, New Hampshire -- With the chance to put the Ohio State Buckeyes back in the NCAA Women’s Ice Hockey Championship, Sloane Matthews found herself denied on a point-blank shot toward an open net.
The next chance, which came a little more than five minutes later, was not as pretty -- a whack at a bouncing puck -- but was enough. Matthews scored with 6:48 left in regulation put Ohio State ahead for good en route to a 4-1 win over Clarkson.
The Buckeyes, who won their first NCAA title in 2022, will play in their third straight championship on Sunday.
"When the puck popped right out on the first one, I had literally the entire net, and she made like an unreal save," Matthews said. "When I got to the bench, I told (Buckeyes assistant Peter Elander), 'the next one I'm putting in.' The next opportunity I had, it was there."
Moments after defender Riley Brengman's point-blank shot bounced off a Golden Knights player in the slot, Matthews whacked at the loose puck which trickled past goalie Michelle Pasiechnyk and inside the left post at 13:12.
Joy Dunne, who captured Rookie of the Year honors, tacked on an insurance goal with three minutes to play. The freshman held the puck in the left circle before firing it past Pasiechnyk.
"That third goal was crucial, not just to get a two goal lead, but understanding in their respect for Clarkson is they score often 6-on-5," Ohio State coach Nadine Muzerall said.
"We studied that as well, so there was a big goal for Joy to get so that we weren't put ina bad situation because they punch back very well in the six on five."
Hadley Hartmetz added an empty-net goal in the final two minutes.
Pasiechnyk, who earned Goaltender of the Year honors, finished with 49saves in the loss.Clarkson opened the scoring a little more than two minutes into the contest when Jenna Goodwin backhanded a pass from below the goal line to Anne Cherkowski across the front of the crease. The senior winger snuck the puck between Ohio State netmidner Raygan Kirk's left pad andthe right post at 2:35.
The Buckeyes responded at 13:53. Clarkson's Sena Catterall misplayed the puck at the Golden Knights' blueline which was picked up by Jenna Buglioni. The senior shoveled the puck ahead to Makenna Webster, who had snuck behind the defense and skated in on a short breakaway before sliding the puck inside the right post.
Despite an even score in the opening period, Ohio State dominated possession and outshot Clarkson 24-5.
"We knew coming into the game that we're going to have to weather some storms through the entirety of the game," Clarkson coach Matt Desrosiers said. "We know they're a shot volume team. They love to geta lot of puck towards the net. So for us, it was just staying calm."
The Buckeyes will face the winner of Friday's Colgate-Wisconsin match to be held at 7:30 p.m. The championship takes place Sunday at 4 p.m.The final will air on ESPNU in the United States and TSN+ in Canada.