Raygan Kirk Leads Ohio State to NCAA Frozen Four Championship
The NCAA's female Frozen Four championship tournament has come and gone. Standing alone atop the pile of successful women's college hockey teams is Ohio State University, and more importantly star backstop Raygan Kirk.
The 23-year-old product of Ste. Anne put together a sensational effort in the championship game on Sunday evening from the Whittemore Center Arena in Durham, New Hampshire.
She turned aside all 27 shots she faced, shutting out the reining champion Wisconsin Badgers by way of a 1-0 final in the last game of her adventuresome collegiate career, doing so without her team's top defender Hadley Hartmetz, who left injured midgame.
"Kirky, to get a shutout against one of the best teams in the country at a key moment in her career, just very proud of her," said Ohio State head coach Nadine Muzerall postgame. "Then you have a freshman just lighting the lamp again and just unbelievable assists by two kids who transferred in, who never won a national championship that really wanted to come to have that opportunity."
The lone goal came 12:48 into the third period, as Joy Dunne broke the scoreless draw, putting the puck into the net, and putting the pressure on Kirk to hold the slim lead. And she did just that, turning aside everything she faced in the final seven minutes of play.
For Ohio State, the victory marked the team's third in the Frozen Four (previously UMD and Clarkson University in the Regional and Semifinal Rounds), while rebounding as the No. 1 seed entering the tournament after falling to the same Badgers team in the final last year.
"It's hard to put into words, it was a tough one last year, and I think everyone's had a chip on their shoulder this year, the revenge tour, you might want to call it," Kirk said postgame, recalling Ohio's loss to Wisconsin in 2023. "Even just how much work we put in, day in and day out. It just means so much — I'm just so proud of everyone."
Joining the Buckeyes for the 2021-22 season following the foreclosure of the Robert Morris University women's hockey program (to which she played two dominant seasons) Kirk began slowly with Ohio State, but ultimately landed the starter's gig for the 2023-24 season. She helped OSU to a 35-4 record on the season, while going 22-2-0 alongside a 1.05 goals against average, a .945 save percentage and a whopping 10 shutouts on the season.
Her play in the championship game netted Kirk the Frozen Four Most Outstanding Player award, and a place on the all-tournament team.
The former Eastman Selects AAA star concludes her NCAA career with 80 games played over five years, to which she owns a 57-10-10 record, 19 shutouts, a .931 save percentage and a 1.68 goals against average to boot.
With her college hockey career now having been completed, Kirk will take part in the upcoming seven-round 2024 Professional Women's Hockey League Draft, which is set to be held this June.
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