Schuler & UMD Women’s Hockey to Drop Puck Against #1 Ohio State to Open Season

UMD's last win against Ohio State came on December 3rd of 2022.

DULUTH, Minn.- The UMD women’s hockey team will begin a new era on Saturday as Laura Schuler will coach in her first game as head coach of the Bulldogs.

And what a way to start as UMD heads to Columbus to face the defending national champions and the 1st ranked team in the country, Ohio State.

The Bulldogs will look to flip the switch in the new year after previously going 0-6 last season against the Buckeyes.

Head Coach Laura Schuler said she doesn’t have many jitters heading into the contest. Her focus is on knocking off the rust.

“It feels natural. It feels comfortable. Like I said, whether you’re an assistant, associate, or a head. Anytime you come into the first game of the season, there’s always going to be cobwebs that you have to get out. Similarly with your players right. That’s to be expected and it’s like how fast can you quickly clear them away, which is what’s really important,” said Schuler.

One of the players that has had plenty of experience playing Ohio State is defender Nina Jobst-Smith.

She said the team has had a strong start preparing for the season and added that they are hungry for the victory each and every game.

“Just keep moving forward, just keep stepping in the direction that we’re going. I think we’re already on a great track but just playing our game and focusing on ourselves. It doesn’t matter who we’re playing against. We want to be that fearless team every single weekend. That’s just kind of our mentality moving on. We’re going into barns and yeah we’re coming out with wins,” said Jobst-Smith.

UMD’s last win against Ohio State came on December 3rd of 2022.

Puck drop between the Bulldogs and Buckeyes is set for 2 PM on Saturday.