Accolades continue to roll in for the No. 1 Ohio State women’s hockey team, who won the WCHA regular season title this past weekend.
On Thursday five players were named All-WCHA, with senior forward Jenn Gardiner and graduate defenseman Sophie Jaques making the first team. Graduate forward Emma Maltais was a second-team honoree while graduate forward Paetyn Levis and graduate defenseman Madison Bizal made third-team.
Gardiner has been the top point-gatherer on Ohio State’s team this season, racking up 53 in just 34 games with 20 goals and 33 assists, tying Maltais for the team high in the latter category.
For Jaques it’s her second consecutive selection as first-team All-WCHA, and she’s established herself as one of if not the best defensemen in all of women’s collegiate hockey. She leads all defensemen across the country in points for a second year in a row, collecting 42 with 19 goals, and has added 42 blocked shots. She was the USCHO Player of the Year in 2022.
In addition to the team-high 33 assists, Maltais shot home nine goals during the regular season and won 309 faceoffs for the Buckeyes, with a win percentage of .626, best on the team.
Levis has fired home a team-high 21 goals, while Bizal has joined forces with Jaques on the first blue line to help keep opponents at just 1.82 goals per game. Bizal has 19 points on the season and a team-high 50 blocked shots.
Ohio State opens postseason play with a WCHA conference tournament quarterfinal series against Bemidji State. Puck drops Friday at 6 p.m. in the OSU Ice Rink.
