Ohio State’s Kassidy Carmichael with the puck. The Buckeyes lost to Wisconsin 3-2 in the NCAA National Championship on Sunday. Photo courtesy of: Ohio State athletics.
Down 2-0 to start the third period, Ohio State’s title hopes looked all but gone.?
Then, in just over two minutes, everything changed.?
Freshman forward Kassidy Carmichael ignited the comeback three and a half minutes into the third, redirecting a shot from Mira Jung?ker past Wisconsin goaltender Ava McNaughton. Moments later, junior captain Jocelyn Amos cleaned up a rebound, slipping the puck around McNaughton’s stick with 14:26 left to tie the game.
And just like that, the Buckeyes had life, and Wisconsin was on its heels.
“We felt the momentum shift when we got those two quick ones,” Amos said.
That momentum didn’t last for long.
With six minutes and 18 seconds to play, a scramble in front of the net halted all Buckeye momentum and proved decisive.?
Ohio State goaltender Hailey MacLeod became tangled with defenseman Emma Peschel, leaving her without her stick and out of position as the puck lingered in traffic. Marianne Picard found the loose puck and quickly fed senior forward Claire Enright, who buried the go-ahead goal into an open net.
And for the second straight season, a late-period Wisconsin goal proved to be the difference in the national championship as the Badgers would hold on to beat Ohio State 3-2 Sunday at the Pegula Center.
For head coach Nadine Muzzerall, the late goal didn’t erase the fight her team showed down the stretch.
“My team came out and played with their heart and gave everything they got,” Muzzerall said. “It speaks a lot to their character when you’re down 2-0 and you punch back.”
And for Jung?ker, who for the second-straight season was on the defensive end to watch the Badgers clinch the national championship, there was not much left to say.
“We gave it our all.”
