University of Minnesota Athletics
University of Minnesota
6-1-0, 2-1-0
Ohio State
5-0-0, 3-0-0
Team Stats
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
No. 3 Minnesota Falls to No. 2 Ohio State in Series Opener
10/18/2025 4:34:00 PM | Women's Hockey
MINNEAPOLIS – The No. 3 University of Minnesota women's hockey team dropped a 4-1 decision to No. 2 Ohio State on Saturday afternoon at Ridder Arena. The matchup marked the first meeting of the season between the two national powers.
Ohio State opened the scoring early, converting on the power play just 2:42 into the first period.
Minnesota's best chance of the opening frame came at 17:02 when Abbey Murphy broke free on a solo rush. The graduate forward skated in alone on OSU goaltender Hailey MacLeod, but her five-hole attempt was turned aside and covered.
Murphy nearly tied the game again midway through the second period, one-timing a cross-crease feed from Ava Lindsay, but MacLeod made another key stop to preserve the Buckeye lead.
The visitors doubled their advantage at 11:27 of the second period with a far-side backhand finish before converting on a penalty shot late in the frame to take a 3-0 lead into the second intermission.
Madison Kaiser put the Gophers on the board with 5:52 remaining in regulation, finishing a two-on-one rush with Josefin Bouveng for her second goal of the season. Kaiser's bar-down snipe cut the deficit to two, but Ohio State sealed the game with an empty-net tally in the final minutes.
With the loss, Minnesota falls to 6-1-0 on the year, while Ohio State improves to 5-0-0.
Quotable
"Obviously not the result that we wanted there, but had some great chances," said head coach Brad Frost. "Hannah Clark played very well, had our chances and just didn't execute. Madison Kaiser got us a little life in the third which allowed us to pull our goalie. Again, poor execution and it ends up in the back of our net. We need to learn from it, flush it, and be better tomorrow."
Notable
- Hannah Clark recorded a career-high 43 saves on the afternoon.
- Abbey Murphy sits one goal shy of sole possession of second place on Minnesota's all-time goals list with 115 career tallies.
- The penalty-shot goal allowed was Minnesota's first since Nov. 26, 2017, at Lindenwood, a 4-3 overtime win.
Minnesota and Ohio State close out the top-three showdown on Sunday afternoon at Ridder Arena. Puck drop is set for 2:00 p.m. CT on Oct. 19, with live coverage available on B1G+ and FOX9+.