From The Lantern March 8, 1995:

Women's hockey club is national champion

By Joel Richards

Lantern sports writer

The Ohio State women's club hockey team headed to Troy, N.Y., last weekend and came home with the American Women's College Association Club Hockey National Championship.

The Buckeye's, 12-4-3, were the number one seed in the Western Division. After receiving a first round bye in the quarterfinals, they defeated Colgate 6-1 in the semifinals.

The Buckeyes had 41 shots on goal, while holding Colgate to 19.

In the championship game, OSU defeated Minnesota 6-3, outshooting them 39-33, to bring the championship trophy back to Columbus.

Joan King was named First Team All-Tournament and Karen Karalus and player/coach Cyndy Schlaepfer were named Second Team All-Tournament.

King scored five goals in the two tournament games. Karalus had two goals and two assists and Schlaepfer had two goals and four assists.

Cynthia Pelak added two goals and one assist while goalie Ashlie Beckham recorded 52 saves in the two games.

King, who scored four of her goals in the semifinal game against Colgate, said she was excited with being named to the first team.

"It was a really cool experience," King said. "We were so excited after the game that we did a victory lap around the ice with the trophy."

King said that the team will be able to keep the trophy for a year, but they have not decided where it should be displayed.

This is the second year in a row that the team was invited to the tournament, but last year they were seeded sixth and finished in fifth place.

"Last year, nobody really knew us, so that's why we were seeded sixth," King said. "This has been our best year so far, and we are trying to form a Big Ten league for next year."

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute hosted this year's tournament, but they are moving up to the varsity level next year. A site for next year's tournament has not been determined.

"We would really like to host next year's tournament, but we'll have to wait and see," King said.

Schlaepfer said this was a great experience for the club, because they beat some of the best women's club teams in the nation.

"This is really amazing, because you have to be invited to be in this tournament," Schlaepfer said. "They invite the teams with the six best records in the nation, and even though the tournament is not called an 'Invitational,' it really is."

Schlaepfer, in her fourth season with the team, said that the club now has more than 50 players divided into three teams.

"We started out with 12 members four years ago, and we now have enough players for three teams, so winning this championship is a really big deal," Schlaepfer said. "The advanced team is the team that won the national championship."

The Buckeyes cannot think about defending their title just yet, because there are still more than two months left in this season.

"We have games scheduled through April," Schlaepfer said. "We also have an open enrollment, and people can join our team anytime, but there is a $5 fee to cover the rental for the ice time."

This weekend, the Buckeyes will be hosting Pittsburgh on Saturday and Sunday.

On Saturday, the novice intermediate team will play a 9:45 a.m., and the advanced team will follow at 11:30 a.m.

The advanced team will play on Sunday at noon, and the novice will take the ice at 1:45 p.m.

There is no admission charge, and the action will be taking place at the OSU Ice Rink.