DURHAM, NH — 1-0. That was the final score when the Wisconsin Badgers defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes in the 2023 NCAA Women’s Hockey National Championship Game.
The Buckeyes had to wait 371 days, but they got revenge on their WCHA rivals on Sunday, beating the Badgers, 1-0, to win the program’s second national title.
Just like last year in Duluth, it was an intense battle. Neither team wanted to make a mistake early, with the play ramping up in the second period. Wisconsin outshot Ohio State in the middle stanza, with both the Badgers’ Ava McNaughton and the Buckeyes’ Raygan Kirk being forced to make some big saves, but it was still anyone’s game heading into the final minutes of regulation.
With overtime in sight, the best freshman in the country this season stepped up. Ohio State’s Joy Dunne, the NCAA Rookie of the Year, beat McNaughton with a great shot with just over seven minutes to go in regulation. It was the O’Fallon, Missouri native’s team-leading 24th goal of the season.
It ended up being enough, as the Buckeye defense helped their goaltender by coming up with some key shot blocks and clearances in the closing moments, helping secure the win.
Buckeyes head coach Nadine Muzerall, who took the program from irrelevance to excellence since taking over in 2016, said this year’s win was surreal.
“To see how far this program has come over the years,” Muzerall explained to ESPN’s Dana Boyle immediately following the win. “It’s just inspirational, I hope, for any girl who wants to be a Buckeye. For all the hard work these young ladies did over the entire season, I’m just so proud of them.”
For Muzerall, it came as no surprise that Dunne was the one who scored the game-winner.
“Absolute clutch, but under composure with that type of pressure as a freshman…the future is so bright for her. When you need a goal, she’s the one you want to have the puck on her stick.”
Dunne, who ended the season tied for sixth in the NCAA in goals, says this OSU team deserved the championship.
“This was a team that was great from the start,” Dunne said. “We knew what the goal was, and we did it. This is a team effort as you can see, just super excited.”
Kirk, who made 26 saves, posted the seventh shutout in championship game history. After stopping 17 of 18 in the national semifinal against Clarkson, the former Robert Morris star was named the tournament’s most outstanding player.
Kirk led the All-Tournament Team, which also featured fellow Buckeyes Dunne (F), Makenna Webster (F), and Cayla Barnes (D). Wisconsin forward Kirsten Simms, a Patty Kazmaier Award finalist, and defender Caroline Harvey also earned All-Tournament honors.
The victory was also rewarding for six Buckeyes who did not suffer the heartache of last year’s loss. Forward Hannah Bilka and defender Casey Barnes came to Columbus looking for a championship. The two graduate students had become two of the best players at their positions in the country while at Boston College but they knew they had to find a different home if they wanted to find team success.
The two, along with Ohio State captain Jennifer Gardiner, will be players to watch for at the upcoming PWHL Draft.
Other players who joined the program this season in search of winning a title included Kelsey Kings (Minnesota State), Kiara Zanon (Penn State), Stephanie Markowski (Clarkson), and Olivia Mobley (Quinnipiac).
Ohio State claimed its first national championship two seasons ago, when they outlasted conference rival Minnesota-Duluth. Seven players from the 2021-22 team, including Gardiner and Kirk, hoisted the trophy again on Sunday.
The 2024 final was the eighth time in the national tournament’s history that two WCHA programs faced off in the championship game. By making it to the final game, the Buckeyes became the fifth program in history to play in three consecutive national championship games.
Wisconsin, searching for its record ninth championship, had beaten Ohio State twice leading into the national tournament, including putting up six goals on Kirk in its WCHA Championship Game victory. It was the first time the team had lost in the national title game since falling to Clarkson in 2017.
Another fun side note: since 2020, the year the tournament was canceled, each of the last four championship games has been decided by one goal.
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