The No. 1 Ohio State women’s hockey team gave up a goal 22 seconds into Saturday’s game at the OSU Ice Rink, then spent the rest of the afternoon making sure it did not matter. Kaia Malachino scored three times for her second career hat trick as the Buckeyes beat Bemidji State 5-1 to complete a weekend series sweep, according to Ohio State Athletics.
Bemidji State (1-9-0, 0-8-0 WCHA) struck first after being held without a goal for 57 minutes in Friday’s series opener, Ohio State Athletics reported. The early lead lasted about six minutes. Malachino tied the game at 6:22 of the first period, carrying the puck into the Beavers’ zone, skating through contact and beating goaltender Sophia Villanueva to make it 1-1.
Ohio State thought it had a second goal late in the first period, but the score was waved off for goaltender interference, and the teams went to the first intermission tied. The Buckeyes held Bemidji State to just three shots in the opening period, the start of a defensive stranglehold that lasted all game.
The second period decided it. Malachino scored her second goal at 2:38, toe-dragging around a defender and putting a shot over Villanueva’s blocker for what stood up as the game-winner. Leah Wicks followed at 7:25 with a shot through traffic — the first goal of the sophomore defender’s career — and Maxine Cimoroni made it 4-1 at 11:20, splitting two defenders to finish a feed from Kassidy Carmichael at the top of the crease.
Malachino completed the hat trick 1:18 into the third period, putting a loose puck into the net after an Alida Korte shot rebounded into traffic at the top of the crease. It was her first hat trick of the season and the second of her career — and, Ohio State Athletics noted, her first career hat trick also came against the Beavers, on Feb. 20, 2026.
Goaltender Genny Klein did the rest. Making her third start of the season, Klein stopped all five Bemidji State shots in the second period and five more in the third, finishing 2-0-0 on the year in net. Ohio State outshot the Beavers 40-13, went a perfect 2-for-2 on the penalty kill and won the faceoff battle 37-24, according to Ohio State Athletics.
The numbers behind the win show how complete the performance was. The Buckeyes’ penalty kill improved to 85.4 percent on the season after Saturday’s perfect showing, and the team is now 6-0-0 on home ice. Ohio State improved to 11-1-0 overall and 7-1-0 in the WCHA, keeping its hold on the top ranking in the country.
The sweep also continued a dominant stretch for Ohio State’s women’s programs this fall. The Buckeyes’ No. 3 women’s soccer team ran its winning streak to nine straight this week — read our earlier coverage: No. 3 Ohio State Women Beat Michigan 3-1 for Ninth Straight Win — and the No. 18 women’s basketball team is set to open its season at home, as we reported in No. 18 Ohio State Women Open Season Monday at Home Against UIC.
Columbus hockey fans have had a busy weekend at every level. The Blue Jackets made their own roster news on the trip to Dallas — see Blue Jackets Activate Ivan Provorov Off Injured Reserve for Dallas Trip — while the Buckeyes closed out their series in front of the home crowd at the OSU Ice Rink.
For Bemidji State, the early goal was the high point of a difficult weekend. The Beavers have lost all eight of their WCHA games so far and managed just one goal on Saturday despite the fastest possible start, a reminder of the gap between the conference’s top-ranked team and a program still searching for its first league win.
What happens next: Ohio State is on a bye week next weekend, a pause that comes at a good time with the schedule about to stiffen. The Buckeyes return to the OSU Ice Rink to host No. 13 Minnesota Duluth on Nov. 13-14, with faceoff set for 6 p.m. in the first game and 2 p.m. in the second, according to Ohio State Athletics.
Two home wins over a ranked conference opponent would let the Buckeyes carry their No. 1 ranking deeper into November. For now, they head into the bye with one loss, a perfect home record, and the season’s second hat trick already on the books.
Photo: MikeVitale, CC BY-SA