BEMIDJI – If hockey games were decided solely on the second and third periods, Bemidji State would have turned some heads around the WCHA on Friday night.

Unfortunately for the Beavers, all three periods count.

Ohio State, ranked No. 5/1 in the country, wasn’t going to start 0-3-0, and it made sure of it in the first period.

The Buckeyes scored three goals on their first three shots en route to spoiling BSU’s home and season opener on Friday night at the Sanford Center. OSU potted five in the opening frame on its way to an 8-2 win.

“In our defensive zone, we got caught running around a lot,” Bemidji State head coach Amber Fryklund said. “We weren’t communicating, and that’s something we can control. We made some adjustments before the second period, and I thought we got better. Getting that first (game) out of the way, there’s so many details and habits that we will (see) in game film.”

Ohio State led 3-0 at the first-period media timeout, with goals from Makenna Webster, Josie St. Martin and Kiara Zanon. Webster scored her second goal with 6:20 left in the first period before Jocelyn Amos made it 5-0.

But just when it looked like it was going to end up as a repeat of last season’s WCHA Playoff quarterfinal, a series where OSU outscored the Beavers 18-1, BSU found some life.

Sophomore defenseman Riley Reeves hit the post in the waning minutes of the opening frame. Sophomore Hailey Armstrong was stuffed by Buckeyes goalie Amanda Thiele on a breakaway shortly after.

It proved to be a turning point for Bemidji State.

“First-period jitters,” Fryklund said with a laugh. “We talked about how we make sure we competed every single shift. We talked about playing good in the defensive zone and getting pucks to the net. Without the first period, I thought we did those things pretty well tonight.”

Armstrong was given another chance on a breakaway in the second period. While shorthanded, she beat Thiele with a left-to-right deke for BSU’s first goal this season.

“She’s been working really hard, and it’s fun to see her get rewarded for her hard work,” Fryklund said. “She’s a goal scorer, so it’s fun to see her get that one.”

Redshirt freshman Isa Goettl, a transfer from Minnesota, scored her first collegiate goal in the third period. Goettle, who played one game last season for the Gophers, cleaned up a loose puck near the goal mouth, with assists going to Morgan Smith and Shelby Sanberg.

Smith, a freshman, and Sandberg, a sophomore, played on a line with Goettl on Friday. The trio had one career point between the three of them heading into this season.

“I’m super proud of her, her effort and her compete,” Fryklund said of Goettl. “It was really neat to see her rewarded for all of that, too. I thought all of our first-year players played really well and did a really good job.”

BSU also turned to graduate transfer Josie Bothun in goal. She made 26 saves in her first game with the Beavers.

Bemidji State threw eight new college hockey players in the lineup on Friday, including six freshmen. It was a lineup that held one of the nation’s powerhouses to just two goals on 22 shots over the final two periods.

The Buckeyes scored three goals in the final two periods. Jordyn Petrie had two of them, while Jocelyn Amos had another.

“We talk about celebrating the small wins,” Fryklund said. “We scored two goals, scored a (shorthanded goal). Isa, a freshman, scored her first goal. We’re going to take this, learn from it and come back tomorrow and be better.”

The Beavers are back at the Sanford Center at 3:01 p.m. on Saturday to close out the series against OSU. After how the final two periods finished, Fryklund sees a stroke of poise from her team despite the six-goal loss.

“We (wanted) to get pucks behind their defense and take advantage of our speed,” Fryklund said. “We kind of found out we could get behind them. That helped our confidence.”

No. 5/1 Ohio State 8, Bemidji State 2

OSU 5 2 1 – 8

BSU 0 1 1 – 2

First period – OSU GOAL: Webster (Buglioni, Wheeler) 2:24; OSU GOAL: Martin (Peschel, Zanon) 6:06; OSU GOAL: Buglioni (Disher, Brengman) 12:19; OSU GOAL: Webster (Wheeler) 13:40.

Second period – OSU GOAL: Amos (Peschel) 2:24; BSU GOAL: Armstrong (Reeves, G. Hendrickson) SH, 10:29; OSU GOAL: Petrie (Peschel, Webster) PP, 14:40.

Third period – BSU GOAL: Goettl (Smith, Sandberg) 4:52; OSU GOAL: Petrie (McCoshen, Peschel) 9;43.

Saves – Bothun (BSU) 26; Thiele (OSU) 8.

The Ohio State Buckeyes are set to begin their Big Ten schedule this week on the road against the Michigan State Spartans. After starting the season against Akron, Western Michigan, and Marshall, facing Michigan State will be a chance for Ohio State to shut down the narrative that they’re beating no-name teams.

Granted, the Spartans are not that good either. However, starting off Big Ten play with a dominant win would be a step towards shutting down all of the outside noise.

For Will Howard, this will be his first Big Ten matchup. He has looked solid to begin his Buckeyes’ career and is being projected to have another good game this week.

Rotowire has released their Week 5 projections for Howard. They are expecting the Ohio State signal caller to complete 21 of his 29 pass attempts for 283 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions.

Those numbers would be more than acceptable for the Buckeyes. He would lead a strong passing game and would help open up the ground attack with those numbers.

Fans would love to see even bigger production, but the above projections would help grow even more confidence in Howard’s ability to play well on a big stage.

So far this season in three games, Howard has completed 68.9 percent of his passes for 795 yards, six touchdowns, and an interception. He has also scored two touchdowns on the ground.

Despite putting up solid production, there are still questions about Howard’s ability to lead Ohio State to a national championship.

He will have to keep proving himself week in and week out. That being said, if he can continue playing the solid brand of football that he has shown to this point, he won’t be the part of the team that holds them back from winning it all.

Expect to see Howard come out strong on Saturday. He’s ready to begin Big Ten play and should put together another solid performance for the Buckeyes against Michigan State.

The title for Ohio’s richest town goes to New Albany. Stacker named the city one of the wealthiest in the state, beating out some of the more well-known areas.

The Columbus suburb has been the subject of urban development, including Intel’s $28 billion computer chip manufacturing facility, as the tech giant recently secured a multibillion-dollar partnership with Amazon for the project.

Once named America’s best suburb by Business Insider, the community of roughly 11,000 residents is praised for its education system (ranked among the top 3% of all Ohio school districts), safety, as well as its arts and entertainment. New Albany boasts several parks and more than 70 miles of trails for outdoor recreation.

So why is New Albany considered rich? It’s all in the numbers. The median household income, according to Stacker, is a whopping $224,824—nearly 200% more than the national median income. More than half of New Albany’s households (nearly 57%) earn over $200,000, and the city’s unemployment rate is just 2.2%. The data also shows that less than 1% of families in the area have income below the poverty level.

Anchorage named the richest city in Kentucky

Our neighbors in Anchorage, Kentucky, (which sits near the Ohio River east of Louisville and roughly 95 miles from Cincinnati) also made the list of richest towns.

According to Stacker, its median home income was $202,917, and just over 50% of households earn over $200,000. More than 97% of civilians have health insurance, and Anchorage’s unemployment rate is just 6.1% with the median earnings for workers at $93,661.

Stacker says that Anchorage has historic mansions dating back to the 18th century, along with newer luxury homes. The city is known for its rustic nature and Southern charm.