COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Minnesota State fell victim of a sweep with a 9-0 loss to the nation's second best team, #2 Ohio State, in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association contest played Saturday afternoon at OSU Ice Rink.

The Mavericks have now dropped eight straight contests and stand 5-9 overall with a 1-9 mark in WCHA action. The Buckeyes remain on top of the WCHA standings with a 12-2-0 mark in overall and conference play.

OSU got going early with Jennifer Gardiner scoring at 4:14 on the game's first power play with a shot from the slot that sailed into the top-right corner to give the Buckeyes a 1-0 lead. At 6:18, Jenna Buglioni scored to up the Buckeyes' lead to 2-0. The Buckeyes eventually carried a 4-0 advantage into the first break thanks to another goal from Buglioni at 10:58 and the fourth coming off the stick of Madisyn Wiebe at 17:35.

Clair DeGeorge provided a pair of insurance goals in the second period to make it a 6-0 advantage for the Buckeyes. Her first of the afternoon was scored 35 seconds into the middle period before she scored her second at the 16:38 mark.

The Buckeyes piled on three more goals in the final period to make it 9-0 and held on there to sweep the weekend sweep of the Mavericks.

In goal for the Buckeyes, Amanda Thiele collected her first career shutout while making 19 saves to improve her record to 3-0. On the other end, freshman Avery Stilwell stopped 39 of 48 shots in her second game with the MSU women's hockey team, she fell to an 0-2 record.

The Buckeyes outshot the Mavericks 48-19 to wrap up the series. OSU was 1-for-3 with the man advantage while MSU was scoreless in three cracks at the power play.

Minnesota State has next weekend off before taking on a new WCHA foe in St. Thomas. The home-and-home series kicks off in Mankato, Minn., at the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center, Friday at 3:01 p.m., before shifting over to St. Thomas Ice Arena in St. Paul, Minn., for the series finale at 2:01 p.m.

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