Western Collegiate Hockey Association

2008-09 Season Outlook

  • The Ohio State women's hockey team is celebrating its 10th year during the 2008-09 season. The Buckeyes have been under the direction of head coach Jackie Barto during the entire duration, with an all-time record of 139-160-31.
  • During the 2007-08 season, Barto celebrated her 200th victory of her career with a 4-1 win against St. Cloud State at the OSU Ice Rink. Her career record after 14 seasons is 209-213-41. Entering the season having coached 463 games, Barto could coach the 500th game of her career during 2008-09.
  • The Buckeyes return 16 letterwinners and lost seven from the 2007-08 season. Ohio State will be without four of its Top 6 scorers last season, losing 52.6 percent of its scoring (152 of 289 points).
  • The top returning scorer for the Buckeyes is senior forward Hayley Klassen with 31 points. The native of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, scored 13 goals and added 18 assists with a plus-10 rating. Two of her goals were scored on the power play and two were shorthanded. Klassen has played in every career game entering the season.
  • Morgan Marziali is second in returning scoring, totaling 26 points for the second-consecutive season. The St. Mary's, Ontario, native led the team with a plus-21 rating and scored 10 goals, two of which were gamewinners, with 16 assists.
  • Overall, the Buckeyes have nine forwards, five defensemen and two goaltenders returning. Along with Klassen and Marziali, the senior forwards include Olivia Antognoli and Whitney Miller. The forward group also has juniors Raelyn LaRocque, Colleen Olson and Michele Tonnessen and sophomores Jenna Kilpatrick and Christina Mancuso.
  • Included in the blueliner group is sophomore Shannon Reilly. The WCHA All-Rookie selection from Chanhassen, Minn., led the Buckeye freshmen in scoring with 26 points, including 18 assists. She ranked eighth in defenseman scoring and seventh in freshman scoring overall in the WCHA. Reilly became just the second Buckeye ever to be named to the conference's All-Rookie team, joining Tessa Bonhomme in 2004. The OSU defensive corps also has senior Megan Hostasek, junior Rachel Davis and sophomores Teal Bishop and Sandy Nelson.
  • Returning in net for the Buckeyes is senior Liana Bonanno. After taking on the go-to role for the first time last season, the native of Mount Sinai, N.Y., gained valuable experience during her 31 starts. She had a 14-13-3 record and posted the first three shutouts of her career last season. Bonanno concluded the year with a 2.91 goals-against average and a .899 save percentage. Her 762 saves were the second-most in a season in the Buckeyes records books.
  • Experience also was picked up by sophomore goaltender Deidre Facklis, who started six games with nine appearances. She was 3-4-0 with a 3.76 goals-against average and .887 save percentage.
  • The Buckeyes welcome seven freshmen to the 2008-09 roster. Four forwards: Melissa Feste (Bloomington, Minn. - Eden Prairie HS), Laura McIntosh (Waterloo, Ontario - Mississauga Jr. Chiefs), Natalie Spooner (Toronto, Ontario - Durham West Jr. Lightning) and Kim Theut (Harrison Township, Mich. - Little Caesars U-19); two defensemen: Brittany Carlson (Hudson, Wis. - Cretin-Derham Hall HS) and Kelly Wild (Mendota Heights, Minn. - Cretin-Durham Hall HS); one goaltender: Barbara Bilko (Coldwater, Mich. - Shattuck-St. Mary's HS).
  • Three of the freshmen have faced each other in the international stage prior to coming to Ohio State. Wild was a member of the gold-medal winning U.S. team in the inaugural IIHF World Women's Under-18 Championship in January 2008. She and the Team USA defeated the Canadians in the championship game, with McIntosh and Spooner picking up silver medals with Team Canada.
  • Spooner was named a member of the Canadian National Women's Under-22 team in August. She is the third Buckeye to be named to the team, joining Bonhomme (2004-07) and Jeni Creary (2003).
  • During a series against the U.S. Women's Under-22 Select team in August, Spooner faced OSU head coach Jackie Barto, who was serving as the head coach of Team USA. Barto was named head coach of that team after leading the U.S. Women's National team to the gold medal at the 2008 IIHF World Women's Championships in April 2008. She led Team USA to two victories over archrival Canada in the process, including the championship game.
  • Ohio State looses two of its staples on defense the last few seasons with the graduation of Tessa Bonhomme and Lisa Chesson. Last season, Bonhomme became Ohio State's first AHCA First Team All-America, first two-time All-American, first WCHA Player of the Year and WCHA Defensive Player of the Year. She was a two-time First Team All-WCHA selection and two-time Top 10 finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award. Chesson was a three-time All-WCHA honoree, with a second-team nod last season to add to her third-team awards her sophomore and junior seasons.
  • The Buckeyes also will be without the scoring touches of First Team All-WCHA honoree Erin Keys. The forward totaled 98 points during her junior and senior years, including becoming just the second Buckeye to reach the 50-point mark in a season in 2007-08. She and Bonhomme joined the 100-point club last season, concluding their careers with 121 and 128, respectively.
  • The opening home series of the 2008-09 season against Wisconsin, the Ohio State women's hockey program will retire its first jersey - Emma Laaksonen's No. 3. Laaksonen, a four-year letterwinner from 2001-04, was the first Buckeye to be named an AHCA All-America selection as a second-team honoree in 2002. That year, she also was the first Buckeye to be selected a Top 10 finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award, along with teammate Jeni Creary. The defenseman from Espoo, Finland, earned the WCHA Student-Athlete of the Year award as a senior in 2004. She is a three-time Olympian for Team Finland, helping them to a bronze medal in the 1998 Nagano Games and has captained the team the last two Olympics. In 2001-02, she was named the Female Hockey Player of the Year for Finland.
  • Ohio State adds a new assistant coach to its staff for the 2008-09 season with the addition of Josh Liegl. A Fond du Lac, Wis., native, Liegl comes to the Buckeyes after serving as assistant coach at Rensselaer, Colgate, Findlay and the men's team at American International. His responsibilities at Ohio State include working with goaltenders and assisting with recruiting. He replaces Katie Lachapelle, who took an assistant coach position at Boston University.
  • Non-conference games for Ohio State include two Hockey East teams - Providence and Boston University and the ECAC's St. Lawrence. The Buckeyes open the season Oct. 3-4 at Providence, alma mater to Barto (class of '84) and assistant coach Catherine Hanson (class of '98). Barto was a three-sport standout in field hockey, ice hockey and softball as a Friar and was inducted into the PC Hall of Fame in 1997. Hanson played under Barto at Providence where the defenseman was a two-time captain. The Buckeyes travel to St. Lawrence for a Thanksgiving series, Nov. 28-29. Ohio State opens the second half of its season hosting Boston University in the teams' first meeting, Jan. 2-3.