Senior co-captains Rachel Davis and Raelyn LaRocque each tally two points
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COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Ohio State women's hockey dropped a 5-4 decision to North Dakota Friday at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D. The Buckeyes rallied twice to tie the score, but fell short of regaining the lead they held in the opening minutes of the game.
Ohio State is now 4-4-3 overall with a 4-4-1-0 mark in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. North Dakota improves to 3-5-1 (3-5-1-0 WCHA).
The teams exchanged goals early in the opening period with Ohio State getting on the board first. Natalie Spooner weaved the puck end-to-end, beating four Sioux players and firing it in from low on the right circle. She was assisted by defensemen Rachel Davis, her sixth, and Sandy Nelson, her first.
North Dakota responded with two goals in a 2-minute span to take a 2-1 lead. Sara Dagenis tallied at 6:17 when she tipped in a pass by Ashley Furia with Margot Miller getting the second assist. Alyssa Wiebe then picked up the loose puck while the Buckeyes were on the power play and carried it to the OSU net, tapping in her own rebound at 8:30 for the unassisted shorthanded goal.
In the second period, Teal Bishop picked up a loose puck in the slot and flung it into the net at 5:25 for her third goal of the season and to tie the score at 2-all. Brittany Carlson collected her fourth helper of the year on the goal while Davis nabbed her second of the game.
The Fighting Sioux responded with two goals under a minute. Furia scored a wrap-around goal that she tucked in on OSU goalie Chelsea Knapp's right side at 7:16. Candice Molle built the lead to 4-2 at 8:14 with an unassisted one-timer from up high.
Ohio State continued to pressure and finally broke through to cut UND lead to one at 16:01. A shot by Laura McIntosh from the lower left circle went top-shelf into the corner, but bounced out. Originally the goal was waved off, but after a review it counted for her fourth lamplighter of the season. Raelyn LaRocque had her eighth assist of the season on the goal.
LaRocque knotted the score unassisted at 4-all 3:50 into the third period. The senior co-captain attempted to score on the left side of the net, but wrapped around and tucked it in at the right corner for her second goal of the season.
North Dakota took back the lead for the final time at 8:47 when Kelsey Ketcher jammed the puck in during a scramble in front of the net with assists by Kelly Lewis and Molle.
Overall, Ohio State had a 33-19 advantage in shots. Neither team scored a power play goal, as the Buckeyes were 0-of-6 and the Sioux were 0-of-3. Knapp (3-4-3) finished the game with 14 saves and UND netminder Stephanie Ney (2-3-1) made 29.
The Buckeyes and Sioux will conclude their series with a 4 p.m. (CT) game Saturday. Live video, audio and stats links are available on the women's hockey schedule page on www.OhioStateBuckeyes.com.
Game Notes:
- With her goal, Laura McIntosh extended her point streak to five games with 10 points in that span (4g, 6a).
- Rachel Davis has tallied a point in five of the last six games.
- Rookie forward Hokey Langan was held without a point for the first time in four games. It was just her third game off the score sheet this season.
- Although the Buckeyes are 15-4-2 all-time against the Fighting Sioux, they hold just a 6-4-1 advantage in games in Grand Forks.
- Ohio State is without freshman forward Minttu Tuominen for the UND series. She is playing with the Finnish National Team at the 2009 Four Nations Cup. Finland and Sweden will play for the bronze medal Saturday in Finland.
