Ohio State’s women’s hockey team has come out of the gates strong in 2026. With two wins last weekend over St. Thomas, the Buckeyes have now all eight of the games they have played in the new year.
The
last time Ohio State suffered a loss came in their final two games of 2025 when they were beaten by Wisconsin, who is currently the top-ranked team in the country.
In their first game last weekend against St. Thomas, Ohio State almost tasted defeat for the first time this calendar year. The Buckeyes fell behind in the middle of the second period when Whitney Horton of the Tommies scored the first goal of the game.
The score remained 1-0 until Jocelyn Amos tied the game up at the 7:58 mark of the third period. The game would go to overtime, where Amos would score just 38 seconds into the extra session to give the Buckeyes their seventh straight win.
Despite trailing for most of the game, Ohio State controlled most of the action on Friday night, outshooting St. Thomas 47-10. Taylor Kressin started in goal for the Buckeyes in the series opener, pushing her record to 6-0 on the season. In 360 minutes on the ice this season, Kressin has only allowed eight goals.
Ohio State didn’t have to sweat over the result on Saturday, defeating St. Thomas 5-0. Jordyn Petrie opened up the scoring less than two minutes into the game with an unassisted goal. Five minutes into the second period Jocelyn Amos tallied her third period of the weekend.
Joy Dunne and Maxine Cimoroni added second period goals, while Sloane Matthews scored the final goal of the game for the Buckeyes in the third period.
Just like on Friday night, Ohio State only allowed St. Thomas to record 10 shots on goal. Hailey McLeod got the start in goal on Saturday, notching her fourth shutout of the season.
McLeod now has a 13-2 record on the season, posting a 1.50 goals against average, and registering a .922 save percentage in the 16 games she has appeared in. As a team, the Buckeyes are outscoring opponents 119-44 in the 26 games they have played.
With two assists on Friday, followed by scoring a goal on Saturday, Joy Dunne tied Hilda Svensson for the team lead with 44 points this season. Svensson had an assist in each game last weekend. Dunne leads the team with 25 goals, while Svensson is the team’s leader with 29 assists so far this season. The two skaters are the only Buckeyes with more than 30 points, and they make up two of the five players on the team with at least 10 goals.
Next up for the Buckeyes are games on Friday and Saturday in Columbus this weekend against Minnesota Duluth. Ohio State swept the two games the programs played in November in Duluth. In the first game between the teams, Maxine Cimoroni scored the first goal nearly 10 minutes into the first period.
Joy Dunne extended the lead in the second period before the Bulldogs pulled a goal back in the third. Dunne restored the two-goal lead late in the third period with an empty net tally to secure the 3-1 win.
After playing the first two seasons of her college career with Minnesota Duluth, Hailey McLeod transferred to Ohio State prior to last season. McLeod got the start in goal in the first game of the weekend, stopping 24 shots.
The victory was a bit of revenge for McLeod, who lost in the only game she played against her former team last season, which also happened to be the first game she started for Ohio State.
In the Saturday tilt between the Buckeyes and Bulldogs, Ohio State again jumped out to a first period lead when Brooke Disher lit the lamp, followed by Sanni Vanhanen in the first frame of the game. Joy Dunne and Jordyn Petrie followed with goals in the second period to close out the scoring by the Buckeyes in the 4-1 victory.
Along with her goal, Dunne added two assists, while Genny Klein saved 31 of the 32 shots she faced.
Minnesota Duluth enters this weekend’s pair of games with a 13-10-3 record on the season. The Bulldogs are coming off a series against Minnesota State where the teams tied 0-0 on Friday, followed by Minnesota Duluth earning a 3-0 win on Saturday. Eve Gascon started both games in goal for the Bulldogs, and now has an 11-9-3 record on the season with six shutouts.
Thea Johansson scored the first goal of Saturday’s game for Minnesota Duluth and now has 15 goals this season, which is the high mark for the Bulldogs. Zoey Krock and Madi Burr added goals in the second period to give Minnesota Duluth some breathing room.
Joining Johansson as double-digit goal scorers this season are Caitlin Kraemer and Rae Meyer. For the year, the Bulldogs are outscoring opponents 67-57.
This will likely be the last weekend Ohio State will have the services of five skaters. Joy Dunne, Mira Jungåker, Jenna Rauino, Hilda Svensson, and Sanni Vanhanen are all headed to Italy for the Olympics, with preliminary round play beginning on Feb. 5.
The loss of five key players will sting Ohio State next weekend when they head to Madison for a weekend showdown with Wisconsin.
