Barto Builds For Buckeye Future
Feb. 5, 2003
By JOHN GILBERT
Ohio State's women's hockey team held on stubbornly before falling 5-2 at Minnesota-Duluth, but the dam burst the next night, when the Buckeyes were the victims of an 11-2 drubbing by the Bulldog powerhouse.
If it felt good to return home Sunday to Columbus, coach Jackie Barto and her Buckeyes didn't have much time to regroup. Four days later, they would be heading for Minneapolis, and the second half of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association Women's grind against Minnesota. Both UMD and Minnesota have been ranked among the nation's top three all season, a position the rest of the league's teams continue to strive to achieve.
While UMD and Minnesota are dueling for the WCHA and possible NCAA laurels, Barto and the Buckeyes, as well as the rest of the conference member teams, continue their battle to make up ground on the two leaders as the league marks its fourth season since bursting upon the scene. Minnesota was the only one of seven teams that had a Division I varsity women's hockey program when the Women's WCHA was formed. UMD beat Minnesota for the first title, then Minnesota won the second and third, with UMD advancing the past two seasons to win the first two Women's NCAA national championships.
"No question, Minnesota and Minnesota-Duluth have set the bar pretty high for our whole league," said Barto. "The others want to continue to improve, and I definitely think there is good progress. Minnesota and UMD have a lot of very talented players out there, but the younger players on other teams are getting exposure to the game. With the resources available to all of us, obviously growth was going to happen. And it's happened quickly.
"Our objective is to work hard and keep the games close against teams like Minnesota and Duluth. We want to qualify for the WCHA tournament and give it our best shot."
Barto established herself as a force in women's hockey coaching during five years at Providence, where she had been a star athlete. Her first team, in 1994-95, was 18-9-4 and won the ECAC championship. The next year the Friars lost to New Hampshire in the title game, but only after five overtimes. When the WCHA started in 1999-2000, Barto joined the new frontier and moved to Columbus, where her teams showed steady improvement through her first three years, going 8-26-3 with all-rookies, then 18-16-3 as WCHA runner-up, and last year fashioned another wining mark at 18-15-4.
This year has been more of a struggle, as OSU takes an 8-16-2 record (5-9-2 in the WCHA) to Minnesota.
"I feel that our program can compete with anybody, we just need some confidence," said Barto. "The trouble is, teams like Minnesota and UMD don't allow your confidence to grow, and confidence is such a fragile element."
Both hope and that fragile element of confidence were the keys to Ohio State's first game in Duluth, which was played in Pioneer Hall, adjacent to the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center main arena, because a "monster truck" show was roaring its way through the big hall both nights. Barto is not likely to soon forget the monster that struck her team suddenly, late in the first game.
The Buckeyes came in 5-7-2 in WCHA games, while UMD was 14-1-1. With both senior April Stojak and freshman Natalie Lamme playing well in goal recently, Barto decided to start Lamme in the first game, because she is from Minnesota's Iron Range, and her Hibbing roots might help her take hold of the situation. Meanwhile, sophomore Jeni Creary, from Shell Lake, Saskatchewan, came in with 14 goals through OSU's first 24 games more than any other two Buckeye skaters combined.
Things were going along according to plan. When Krista McArthur's power-play goal put UMD up 1-0 during a 15-3 shot barrage in the first period, Creary got lucky and scored late in the opening period when UMD goaltender Patricia Sautter skated to the sideboards but misfired on a clearing attempt, leaving Creary with an empty net from 40 feet for her 15th goal and a 1-1 tie.
The Bulldogs, who finished the weekend 16-1-1 atop the WCHA and 22-2-2 overall to defend their No. 2 national rank, stormed ahead when Hanne Sikio scored shorthanded, Jenny Hempel finished a 3-on-2 rush, and Nora Tallus connected on a power-play. But Jana Harrigan knocked in a Jeanne Chapple feed with :05 seconds left in the second period, and despite being outshot 21-3 in the period and 36-6 for two periods, the Buckeyes trailed only 4-2 at the second intermission.
It stayed 4-2 for 12 minutes, which was to Ohio State's benefit. One more goal and the Buckeyes would be right on the cusp of a major upset bid.
Instead, everything came undone. After making her 40th save, Lamme received a game misconduct following an altercation and had to leave the game. April Stojak came in cold and played well.
In the closing minutes, Hempel deflected in one more goal for the 5-2 finish, which still wasn't bad, considering UMD's 54-15 edge in shots. That left a moment of truth for Barto and the Buckeyes. They had suffered from a steady stream of penalties, and a perceived lack of discipline might have been worse than the outcome.
Barto chose to not dress Lamme for the second game, getting special permission from the league to go with only one goalie. But even without their top scorer, the Buckeyes responded to Barto's demand and simply tried to play the powerful Bulldogs heads-up. But the result was 11-2.
While UMD was outshooting the overmatched Buckeyes 33-5 in the first two periods and 51-18 for the game, Jenny Hempel and Guest scored the sixth and seventh UMD goals in a school-record 9-second burst, with Eustace setting up both goals. On top of that, UMD was without Maria Rooth who reached 200 points two weeks earlier and Erika Holst, both of whom were skating for Sweden's National team in a four-game upset victory over Finland, which included UMD defenseman Satu Kiipeli, and Ohio State star Emma Laaksonen.
The Buckeyes obviously depend on Creary's offense and Laaksonen's skills on defense, and Barto points to freshman Jana Harrigan, and sophomores Jennifer Desson and Meaghan Mulvaney to improve the team's scoring ability. Laaksonen has proven that more than just UMD can attract top student-athletes from Sweden and Finland.
"The players have to be the right fit for us, though, they have to be players whose highest goal is to graduate from Ohio State," said Barto. "Scholarships are available, and the talent pool is growing, so the opportunities are definitely there."
With the trip to Minnesota looming, Barto will leave Lamme at home with an
indefinite suspension. "We hold our athletes to the highest standards," said
Barto. "Natalie is disappointed it happened, and she will work hard to get
back into the lineup, but it was definitely an act that was unbecoming of an
athlete in our program. We all need to be held accountable. The game is all
about respect: respect for the game, your team and your opponent."
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