Columbus, Ohio - The Providence College women's ice hockey team lost to the Buckeyes of Ohio State University, 4-1 on Saturday afternoon . PC and OSU faced off for the second consecutive day, and it was Ohio State who once again held on for the win. Providence now stands at 2-6-2 (2-2-1 HOCKEY EAST), while Ohio State improves to 7-5-2 (4-4-2 WCHA).
Ohio State opened the scoring at 4:52 of the first period when, from below the goal-line, Erin Keys fed Mallory Peckels in the slot who one-timed a shot past PC's Danielle Ciarletta (Blaine, Minn.). At 8:06 PC's Mari Pehkonen (Tampere, Finland) levelled for the Friars as she cut across the slot with the puck and beat OSU's Liana Bonanno with a shot high to the stick side. The goal was assisted by Brittany Simpson (Barrie, Ont.). At 11:55 the Buckeyes had what looked like another great scoring opportunity, but a diving poke-check from backchecking forward Sarah Feldman (Fall River, Mass.) negated OSU's break away chance. The Friars almost took the lead while skating five-on-three, as Feldman tipped a Simpson drive off the post with just under four minutes remaining in the period. Providence was able to outshoot OSU 16-5 in the period.
In the second period OSU was able to regain the lead at 12:34 when Keys skated out from the face-off circle and took a high shot for her eight goal of the season, with assists going to Morgan Marziali and Peckels. The Friars had their best scoring opportunity of the period at 15:05 when Rachel Crissy (Naperville, Ill.) found Jean O'Neill (Strafford, Pa.) at the top of the crease, but Bonanno pushed O'Neill's shot wide of her goal. After two periods of play, OSU held the 2-1 advantage.
In the third period, the Friars had another scoring chance on an offensive zone face-off win, but Bonanno turned aside the Jenna Keilch (Clinton Township, Mich.) shot at 8:40. OSU then added to the lead at 12:35 when Mancuso poked in a loose puck in front of the Friar net. Hayley Klassen and Raelyn LaRoque were credited with assists on the goal. The Friars pulled the goalie in favor of the extra attacker, but were unable to edge any closer. OSU's Keys scored an empty net goal at 19:59.
In net, Ciarletta finished with 18 saves for the Friars, while Bonanno made 31 saves to earn the win for the Buckeyes.
The Friars return to action when they play Brown University on Saturday, November 24 in the 13th Annual Mayor's Cup. The game will begin at 2:00 p.m. at Schneider Arena on the campus of Providence College.