Jim Meagher

Box Score

Clarkson CLA 33-5-2

Ohio St. OSU 34-4-0

Clarkson CLA

33-5-2

Final

Mar. 22, 2024

Ohio St. OSU

34-4-0

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	3	F
Clarkson CLA	1	0	0	1
Ohio St. OSU	1	0	3	4

Game Recap: Women's Hockey | 3/22/2024 6:31:00 PM

Pasiechnyk Stands Tall with 49 Saves, But Knights Fall in Frozen Four to Ohio State, 4-1

Durham, NH – Senior Michelle Pasiechnyk stopped 49 shots, this time in regulation, but top-seeded Ohio State found a way to break through the Clarkson University Women's Hockey team's defense in the third period to defeat the Golden Knights 4-1 in the NCAA Division I Women's Hockey Semifinals on Friday afternoon in New Hampshire.

Just six days after recording a career-high 61 saves in quadruple overtime against Minnesota, Pasiechnyk made 49 saves, which would have been her career-best by seven had it not been for the extra time against the Golden Gophers in the NCAA Regional.

The Golden Knights saw their season end with a record of 33-5-1 while Ohio State moved to 34-4-0 on the year.

Although the Green and Gold ended up on the losing end of things, the game started off in favor of Clarkson. It took very little time for the Golden Knights to get on the board, as Clarkson scored less than three minutes into the contest off a turnover. Alexie Guay battled with an Ohio State defender behind the right circle and the puck was tipped away to the opposite side to Brooke McQuigge. The captain backhanded a pass into the slot, finding Anne Cherkowski. From there, Cherkowski decided to spin around to her forehand and wristed a shot to the left of Buckeye goaltender Raygan Kirk, finding the back of the net at 2:25.

Following the goal, Ohio State dominated offensively, keeping the puck in the Clarkson defensive zone for long stretches and not allowing the Golden Knights to counter. However, Clarkson's defense was up to the task, specifically goaltender Michelle Pasiechnyk. The senior made glove and pad saves frequently, frustrating the Ohio State offense.

That would change later in the period as the Buckeyes took advantage of a clearing miscue by the Knights. Clarkson was close to the blue line trying to get the puck out of the zone, but Jenna Buglioni was able to flick the puck forward to Makenna Webster, creating a one-on-one with Pasiechnyk. Webster closed the distance and made a few moves, but decided to go five-hole for the goal at 13:53.

Ohio State finished the period with a 24-5 edge in shots and the Golden Knights also blocked an additional 11 shots.

The second period evened out in terms of offense as Clarkson was able to get some chances in the Ohio State end. The Knights nearly regained the lead on a shot from Keira Hurry, but Kirk got a piece of the attempt as it just trickled beyond the post. The Buckeyes came back with their own offense and Pasiechnyk continued to stand tall, sliding to her right to cut down and angle and whipping her glove to the left to make a nifty save late in the period.

The Buckeyes finished with a 16-11 edge in shots on goal in the middle 20 minutes, but much of that advantage came in the final minutes of the period.

The third period saw the two teams play a great deal in the neutral zone for the first handful of minutes, as neither team had any grade-A chances. The first big opportunity came for Ohio State as Sloane Matthews had an open look in the slot, but Pasiechnyk was there for a pad save at the 8:35 mark. Four minutes later, the Buckeyes almost jumped ahead on a shot by Makenna Webster as she eluded Pasiechnyk, but the Knights defense crashed the crease and kicked the puck away. Minus one blocker, Pasiechnyk was able to cover up to stop the play. However, just a minute later, the Buckeyes were on an odd-skater rush from their own end to gain the lead.

The puck was carried in deep where Webster tossed a pass out front to Riley Brengman. Brengman's attempt in the slot was ticked away by a skate, but it ended up on the left side of the net where Sloane Matthews was able to redirect the puck into the goal at 13:12 to put the Buckeyes up 2-1.

Looking to recover on offense, the Knights were whistled for the first penalty of the contest, putting the Buckeyes on the power play. Although Clarkson was able to kill off the penalty officially, Ohio State kept the puck in the Knights' defensive zone before the Knights could skate evenly in that section of the ice. Joy Dunne used the extra space and a screen for a wrist shot past the glove of Pasiechnyk at 17:00. After that third goal, Clarkson pulled Pasiechnyk for an extra attacker. The Knights tried to reduce the gap to one, but the puck ended up out of the Ohio State defensive zone near the blue line. Dunne picked up the puck and just missed the empty cage. When Dunne tried to recover and stuff the puck in, it bounced out in to the slot for Hadley Hartmetz and she deposited the puck into the net through Clarkson's defensive blockade.

Ohio State finished with a 53-18 edge in shots overall, with Kirk making rough one-third the amount of saves (17) as Pasiechnyk (49). The Buckeyes finished 0-for-1 on the power play while Clarkson never had a chance on the power play.

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