On the surface, Friday’s women’s hockey game at St. Thomas Ice Arena looked like another dominant performance from No. 2 Ohio State against an overmatched St. Thomas team.

But the 5-1 finish — the Buckeyes’ 13th straight victory over the Tommies — doesn’t tell the story of how competitive the game was until Ohio State put it away with two goals in the final 10 minutes.

After playing two close games against No. 8 St. Cloud State last weekend (tied 1-1 and lost 3-1), Tommies coach Joel Johnson believes his team continued to advance to the right.
direction against the Buckeyes.

“They’re the No. 2 team in the country for a reason,” Johnson said. “But what I think we demonstrated today is that in the long term – maybe tomorrow, maybe in two weeks, in two months – we “I showed that if we compete defensively , we have a chance to win.

“But we have to score. Maybe it’s someone who makes a special play, but normally it’s someone who gets a lucky bounce. We didn’t succeed and other teams are responsible for our bad luck. Eventually, the tide will turn.

Tommies sophomore right winger Madison Brown, who scored the St. Thomas goal, liked the way the Tommies competed.

“I think it’s a super competitive team,” she said, “but I think we just leaned into it. That was our goal, to play as hard as possible.

Both teams were rocked by a scary incident midway through the second period when Tommies freshman defenseman Cailin Mumm was injured after being slammed into the boards from behind. Medical staff quickly came to her aid after she was left on the ice and quickly requested a stretcher.

Mom was finally helped back into her skates, but she still left the ice on the stretcher. Few details were subsequently provided, but there is every reason to believe that Mumm avoided serious injury.

“Cailin is in a good mood,” Johnson said. “She’s going to fight and be healthy. I know both teams were worried. I appreciate Ohio State reaching out. And our medical staff was
exceptional response to the situation.

The Tommies, trailing 2-1, played a five-minute power play, but the teams were playing four-on-four 26 seconds later when St. Thomas center Cara Sajevic was ejected for fielding. in failure. The Tommies were back on the power play when Ohio State’s Jenna Buglioni scored on a short-handed breakaway.

“Before the shorthanded goal, we ended up in a four-on-four situation, which I didn’t like for various reasons,” Johnson said. “And then the whole tenor of the game changes. They’re a veteran team and they played like that and scored the goal shorthanded.

“I thought that was the turning point of the game.”

The Tommies had a number of good scoring chances in the game, but couldn’t get past Buckeyes goalie Amanda Thiele after Brown gave the Tommies a 1-0 lead at 2:37 of the first period.

“We have chances, but someone has to bury the puck,” Johnson said.

Brown said the emphasis against a team with as much firepower as Ohio State has to be playing good defense, which she believes can lead to good scoring chances on the other end. But there are things she thinks the Tommies can do better offensively.

“Getting people in front of the net, screening the goalie and being there for the rebounds,” she said. “And getting more shots on net is key.”

The Tommies, who have been outscored 69-10 in their 13 losses to the Buckeyes, will have another chance against them Saturday afternoon.

“I’d like to make the same play and score,” Johnson said. “I’d like to wear them out, play four lines, play six ‘D’s and have them compete with us for 60 minutes.”