Marysville resident Nadine Muzerall, who is the coach of The Ohio State University’s women’s hockey team, watches game action. The Lady Buckeyes begin post-season competition tonight. (Journal-Tribune photo by Mac Cordell)
Nadine Muzerall is a Marysville mom. She likes her neighborhood and the local restaurants. She like to have breakfast with her kids. She is looking forward to having the Avalon Theatre open so she doesn’t have to drive to Dublin to see a movie.
Muzerall is also head coach for The Ohio State University’s nationally-ranked women’s hockey team.
“My job is so go-go-go,” she said. “There is a high expectation of winning at OSU and of excellence, and that’s great, but it’s also nice to come home to a town like Marysville, where things are a little slower.”
Merzerall grew up in Ontario, Canada, in a hockey family. She played forward for the University of Minnesota, where she scored a school-record 139 goals and was named an All-American in 1998 and 2000.
She led the Golden Gophers to back-to-back national titles in 2000 and 2001.
After graduation, Muzerall taught and coached at a variety of schools and camps before playing hockey professionally in Switzerland.
She won the 2010 Swiss League championship.
In 2011, Muzerall was named an assistant coach at the University of Minnesota, helping her alma mater win four national titles in her five seasons. She has also served as the head coach for Team Canada’s U22 women’s hockey team.
In September of 2016, just days before the start of the hockey season, Muzerall was named head coach of the Lady Buckeyes. She said the time crunch of her hiring led her to Marysville.
“By luck,” Muzerall said of her arrival in Marysville.
Because Muzerall was hired so close to the hockey season, her family remained in Minnesota for a time. She said in Minnesota the family had a home her husband had been working on.
“It was a nightmare,” she said.
When she was picking a home, she said her number one criteria was that it was “turn-key” ready.
“I didn’t have time to make this decision,” Muzerall said.
She said she knew there were homes in Marysville, although a 20-minute drive, that offered “more bang for the buck” in purchasing a home.
“I checked out the house and I liked it,” Muzerall said. “I checked out the location and I liked it.”
She said she lived in Toronto and her husband is from L.A., so they have really come to appreciate the quality of life in Marysville.
“We were used to a high pace, so we were really OK going a slower pace,” Muzerall said.
She said that while the community is quiet, inside her home is “not quiet in any way.”
Muzerall lives with her husband and two children (ages four and five) and her mother and father-in-law.
“But I love it,” she said.
Muzerall said she will often use the time on her drive home, to “decompress.”
“it’s nice to be able to shut down the mental aspect of it for a while,” she said.
She said she enjoys going into the local bank and people know her. She said she loves the restaurants, listing favorite after favorite and even naming the waitress she likes. The coach said she appreciates that in Marysville, people aren’t just a number.
“People are so genuine,” she said. “It is everything. Everyone makes it feel personal.”
“I know the town is growing rapidly and there are a lot of people who are pushing back against all the growth and new people coming in and I am one of them,” she said. “However, I love my neighbors and the people I get to interact with in Marysville.”
Tonight, the team will open playoff competition with a home series against Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) foe Minnesota State.
“They are a really good team. We have played them four times before (2-0-2). You kind of get to know your conference opponents well,” Muzerall said.
Even so, she called the Mavericks, “unpredictable.”
“We have to continue doing what we are doing,” she said.
What the Buckeyes are doing earned them a 20-8-6 overall record and a berth in the playoffs.
This is the third time in three years the women’s hockey team has topped 20 wins. Never before in program history have the Lady Buckeyes even had two consecutive winning seasons.
Muzerall’s squad acts more like family, even with the fans. The team enters the rink on a path lined with children.
The players greet many of them, “bumping” them and even talking to them. As players stretch they will interact with the waiting fans.
“I want to continue to promote the game,” Muzerall said, adding that she wants to “surround the rink with young kids.”
At Ohio State, Muzerall has compiled a 78-50-17 overall record.
Still, she knows her team will need to step up if it hopes to continue a post-season march.
“Now that it’s the playoffs, your mindset has to change,” Muzerall said. “You have to stay focused.”
OSU women’s hockey games are free, as is the parking.
Once the playoffs begin, however, conference rules dictate a ticket price.
If the Buckeyes win this series, they will travel to Minneapolis for the WCHA Final Faceoff.