2013-14 Women’s Hockey Schedule Revealed

Features 17 regular season home games, four non-conference opponents

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The 2013-14 Ohio State women’s hockey campaign will feature a solid non-conference slate to go along with the always grueling 28-game WCHA schedule.

 

The schedule features 11 opponents and 34 games, including six non-conference games and 17 home games.

 

The season kicks off with an exhibition game Sept. 28 as the Buckeyes play host to the Toronto Aeros of the PWHL. The regular season officially gets underway the following weekend as Ohio State travels to Erie, Pa., to take on Mercyhurst Oct. 5. The Lakers finished No.5/6 in the final national polls a season ago and OSU is 0-2 all-time against Mercyhurst.

 

The home and WCHA portions of the schedule get started when the Buckeyes welcome St. Cloud State to Columbus Oct. 11-12.

 

The Buckeyes then hit the road for a series at North Dakota Oct. 18-19, followed by an off week, and then again at Wisconsin Nov. 2-3. Upon returning to Columbus, Ohio State will play host to conference foes Bemidji State (Nov. 8-9) and Minnesota Duluth (Nov. 15-16), followed by a trip to Minnesota State Nov. 22-23.

 

Up next, Robert Morris visits Ohio State Nov. 27 for the first time since 2009 when head coach Nate Handrahan was then at the helm of the Colonials. The Buckeyes are 4-0 all-time against RMU.

 

OSU then travels to Durham, N. H., for a series with New Hampshire Nov. 30-Dec. 1. It will be the first meeting between the two programs since they played one another for four consecutive seasons from 1999-2002. UNH holds a 7-1 advantage in the all-time series. 

 

The first-half portion of the schedule wraps up at home with defending national champion Minnesota coming to town. The Gophers have won 49 consecutive games coming into this season.

 

The 2014 slate gets started in Columbus with the first matchup of Ohio State and second-year program Penn State, Jan. 3-4.

 

From there OSU will face the annual stretch run of WCHA opponents to close out the regular season, including trips to Minnesota (Jan. 10-11), Minnesota Duluth (Jan. 17-18), St. Cloud State (Jan. 31-Feb. 1) and Bemidji State (Feb. 14-15); and home series with Minnesota State (Jan. 24-25), Wisconsin (Feb. 7-8) and North Dakota (Feb. 21-22).

 

The top four teams in the conference standings will once again host a best-of-three series in the WCHA First Round Playoffs with the winners advancing to the WCHA Final Face-Off. This year the event will be held at the Sanford Center in Bemidji, Minn.

 

Ohio State finished the 2012-13 season with 19 wins and a trip to the WCHA Final Face-Off. The Buckeyes return 18 letterwinners to go along with five new incoming freshmen for the 2013-14 campaign.