COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Bemidji State University women’s hockey team fell to No. 5 Ohio State University 7-2 Friday night in game one of their Western Collegiate Hockey Association series. The Beavers fall to 14-13-2 (8-10-1-0 WCHA) on the season while the Buckeyes improved to 17-6-4 and 10-4-3-1 in league play.

The Beavers and Buckeyes played much of the first period locked in a scoreless tie but with just 1:42 left in the frame, Liz Schepers scored her 18^th goal of the season for the game’s first goal. Just 19 seconds later, Ohio State’s Emma Maltais beat goaltender Lauren Bench for her 16^th goal of the season to put the Buckeyes up 2-0 with just 1:23 left.

Ohio State entered the second period with the two-goal lead and halfway through the middle frame, extended its lead to 3-0 off the stick of Sophie Jaques for her sixth goal of the year. OSU wasted no time to make it 4-0 when Gabby Rosenthal scored 1:03 seconds after Jaques’ goal with 9:22 to play in the second. The Buckeyes didn’t stop there and with 3:44 remaining, Brooke Bink scored to make it 5-0.

Bemidji State got on the scoreboard for the first time early in the third period when Lydia Passolt scored her eighth goal of the season just 31 seconds into the final period to make the score 5-1. However, with 10:37 remaining Gabby Rosenthal scored her second goal of the game during a Buckeye power play to regain the five-goal lead. Ohio State extended its lead to 7-1 when Levis Paetyn scored with 6:04 left to play. Passolt netted her second goal of the game just before the period ended at the 19:02 mark for her third career multi-goal game.

Bemidji State didn’t have a power play in the game and its penalty kill allowed one power-play goal on three chances by Ohio State.

Bench earned the loss for the Beavers and falls to 11-11-1 after stopping 21-of-25 shots in 31:38 of ice time before being replaced by junior Kerigan Dowhy who stopped 13-of-16 shots in 28:22.

Bemidji State and Ohio State play the series finale tomorrow afternoon when the two teams meet again at 2:07 p.m. CST.

Nestled in Northern Minnesota’s wooden region and located on the shore of Lake Bemidji, BSU sponsors 15 varsity athletic programs with NCAA Division I men’s and women’s hockey membership in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, while its 13 NCAA Division II programs hold membership in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC).

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