Ohio State, Wisconsin’s women’s teams put on show at Wrigley Field

The conditions were frigid and the temperatures dropped with each whistle, but fans of both the #1 Wisconsin Badgers’ and #2 Ohio State Buckeyes’ women’s hockey teams wore their finest red outfits and brought the enthusiasm to Chicago’s Wrigley Field as the Badgers and Buckeyes played to a 3-3 tie.

The two schools have produced as much talent as anyone, a never-ending list of Olympic gold medallists, World Championships and some of the biggest names in the PWHL, including Hilary Knight, Sarah Nurse, Natalie Spooner, Sophie Jaques, Emma Maltais, Jincy Roese, Kristen Campbell, Emily Clark and Abby Roque.

Now as part of the Big Ten’s Frozen Confines series at Wrigley Field, the two teams faced off, giving the hockey world a front-row seat to tomorrow’s best players, including Casey O’Brien, Kiara Zanon, Lacey Eden, Jenna Buglioni and more.

The Buckeyes opened the scoring just 49 seconds in when Jordyn Petrie was fed an outlet pass and buried a wrister blocker side to make it 1-0. Not long after, Badger defender Caroline Harvey and forward Kirsten Simms scored in quick succession to make it 2-1 after one.

Ohio State forward Makenna Webster scored late in the second to tie the game at two, then teammate Joy Dunne was fed a behind-the-net pass from Buglioni to take the lead, complete with the baseball home run celebration.

With five minutes to go in the game, the Badgers pulled off some nice perimeter passing that led to a point shot with from Laney Potter, and Kelly Gorbatenko tipped the puck past Buckeye netminder Amanda Thiele, tying the game at three.

The two teams couldn’t reach a result by the end of a five-minute, three-on-three overtime, resulting in a tie for the record books, and a shootout to determine who gets the extra point in the conference standings. Buglioni came in with speed and tuck it five-hole to give the Buckeyes the extra point over the rival Badgers.

Wisconsin goaltender Ava McNaughton made a season-high 36 saves in the losing effort, while Ohio State’s Amanda Thiele stopped 31 shots.

Before the game, the Buckeyes wore Johnny Gaudreau’s No. 13 jerseys to the rink as they toured Wrigley Field. Ohio State head coach Nadine Muzerall shared with reporters after the game that she wanted the players to take in the moment.

“I just told them, before you even put that jersey on, to pause and be grateful for all that you have,” Muzerall said.

The Buckeyes also showcased new jerseys for the outdoor game, with Muzerall adding that she decided to put the team name on the back of the sweaters instead of the players’ names.

“Nobody’s bigger than the brand,” she said. “We play for each other. It’s not about your name, it’s about The Ohio State and the athletic department.”

O’Brien, one of the top PWHL prospects going into next summer’s draft, said everything revolving around the game itself will be what the players take away from this event.

“I think, regardless of how this game was going to go, we were going to come out with a smile and just were really honored to be provided with this opportunity,” O’Brien said. “It was so special, and I think everyone’s going to remember this for the rest of their lives.”

O’Brien, a fifth-year graduate, finished with an assist and now has 12 goals and 34 assists for 46 points in 22 games this season, the most points in the country.

Badgers’ head coach Mark Johnson said while the team was disappointed in the result, he’s glad the players took pictures throughout the event so they’ll have the lasting memory.

“Five, 10, 15 years later, as we talked about many times, they’re going to reflect back on this,” Johnson said. “It’s going to be like, ‘Mom, you played at Wrigley Field?’ I told the team this morning, this may not happen again. We may never see a women’s game at Wrigley again. So if you happen to be in it, it’s a good day.”

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