There were no Miss Congeniality awards handed out Friday night in Columbus, Ohio, when the Ohio State women’s hockey team took on Bemidji State. In fact, it was quite the opposite.
The two teams combined for a mere 16 penalty minutes by the time the horn sounded to end the WHCA game, but after the clock ran out and Bemidji State had taken the game 3-2, the benches cleared and an all-out brawl ensued on the ice.
The result was 18 fighting majors, and accompanying game disqualifications, being assessed to nine members of each squad. Throw on another major and game DQ for grabbing the facemask and one minor for instigating, and you’ve got 287 penalty minutes for the postgame fight alone.
Along with the 16 penalty minutes from the game, an NCAA-record 303 total penalty minutes were doled out — more than have ever been assessed in a college hockey game, men or women, Division I or Division III, according to U.S. College Hockey Online. The previous record had been 268 penalty minutes, tallied by Boston University and Maine on Jan. 24, 2004.
The record for a Division I women’s game was 83, set by Minnesota and Minnesota-Duluth on Dec. 14, 2003.
Because the game disqualifications carry a one-game suspension, each team was able to dress only six forwards and four defensemen for Saturday’s rematch, which went into overtime and ended in a shootout. Bemidji State won the shootout 1-0 after taking a 2-2 tie into the extra period.
A stick tap to Deadspin for the find.
