Marysville resident and Ohio State University Women’s Hockey Coach Nadine Muzerall has been named the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) Coach of the Year for the second time in her four years at the helm of the Buckeye program.
“It is a huge honor. I am very humbled,” Muzerall told OSU media. “When the commissioner called and told me, I was taken back.”
She called the WCHA “one of the best leagues in the country.”
“You are in a pool of phenomenal candidates and it is just very humbling that your peers think highly of you,” she said.
Muzerall spread credit to her players and staff as well as officials at the university for working hard to make things happen for the program.
“It is a group award and I just want to thank everybody,” she said. “I am just humbled.
In her fourth season with the Buckeyes, Muzerall has led Ohio State to a 20-8-6 record and a No. 5 national ranking. This is the third consecutive year Muzerall’s squad has reached 20 wins. The women’s hockey team has reached 20 wins only one other time in program history.
According to the WCHA, Muzerall and the Buckeyes have faced the most-difficult schedule in the nation this year, earning eight wins over top-10 opponents, including four top three upsets.
Ohio State won 13 conference games and completed four regular season conference sweeps. Against non-conference opponents, the Buckeyes racked up another seven wins, including victories over No. 1 Cornell and No. 6 Princeton.
“Congratulations to this fantastic group of honorees,” WCHA Commissioner Jennifer Flowers said in a statement announcing Muzerall as Coach of the Year, as well as the other individual conference honors. “They are all well-deserving recipients who are being recognized for their outstanding accomplishments on and off the ice this season.
“The WCHA is the proud home to many incredible student-athletes and coaches and we’re proud to celebrate this special group with these accolades today.”
Last weekend, the Buckeyes swept conference foe, Minnesota State, to earn a berth in this weekend’s WCHA Final Faceoff Semifinals.
OSU will face No. 3 Minnesota in the WCHA Semifinal tonight. If the Buckeyes win they’ll move onto the WCHA Championship game Sunday afternoon.
This is third consecutive WCHA Final Faceoff appearances for the Buckeyes.
With her wins last weekend, Muzerall’s record at Ohio State is 80-50-17.
In 2018, Muzerall took the Buckeyes to the NCAA Frozen Four for the first time in program history.