Goaltender Emma-Sofie Nordström matched her career-best 43 saves, but four goals in the third period powered the second-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes to a 6-1 win over the eighth-ranked St. Lawrence University women's hockey team on Saturday night in the NCAA Regional Finals in Columbus, Ohio.

At the 13:57 mark of the first period, Ohio State's Sara Swiderski was sent off for a five-minute major for elbowing and 23 seconds into the power play, Aly McLeod struck for the Saints. McLeod circled by the blue line and fired from the top of the left circle to beat the blocker of Buckeyes' goaltender Amanda Thiele.

After a string of penalties on both sides, both teams returned to even strength, and the Buckeyes evened things up with a 2-on-1 rush and a goal from Sloane Matthews.

Ohio State pulled to a 2-1 lead before the end of the first period, as Jenna Buglioni pulled the puck off the end boards and found Joy Dunne on the doorstep.

After the first 20 minutes, Ohio State led 2-1 and 9-5 in shots on goal.

Shortly after the start of the second, the Saints went on the kill again, successfully killing off all of Ohio State's power play opportunities thus far.

The story of the rest of the second period was netminder Nordström, as she made 22 of her 43 saves in the second frame, including a breakaway opportunity with 1:22 to play.

After the second period, OSU led 31-6 in shots on goal.

At 8:24 of the third, the Buckeyes extended their lead to two, as Dunne took an initial shot on goal, which was stopped by Nordström, but a falling Jocelyn Amos was able to push the puck over the goal line.

Just about two minutes later, Ohio State's Makenna Webster went to the high corner beating Nordström's blocker for the 4-1 lead.

With 2:33 to play, the Saints pulled Nordström for the extra attacker, but just 10 seconds later, the Buckeye's put in the empty netter.

Jordyn Petrie scored with 19.7 seconds to play to finish with the 6-1 final.

"We're really proud to be playing this time of year and of this group," said head coach Chris Wells. "That five-minute major really created some momentum for us in the first and I think Emma was the star of the game, keeping us in it in the second. What Ohio State can do on their forecheck and their relentlessness, we were fortunate for Emma and to come out of that second period 2-1. We certainly gave it all we had; and I love how hard we played; we just needed a couple more bounces."

"We fought hard," said senior captain Anna Segedi. "I think Emma has been the backbone of our team all season and she certainly makes those big saves when we need her and is a big part of the reason how we got here. We went back into the locker room and said if it's the last time, let's play for each other."

"It's so much more about the experience that we have and the comradery on our team, our fans and the University," Wells added. "We're the biggest little school in America and that what drives us, we're proud to wear the St. Lawrence jersey and that's what it's all about. Thank you to the staff in Columbus for helping make this an incredible experience for our team."

Nordström matched her career-high 43 saves, while Thiele finished with 13.

OSU finished with a 49-14 advantage in shots on goal.

St. Lawrence closed their season 22-15-5, while Ohio State improved to 28-7-3 and advances to the Frozen Four in Minneapolis, Minnesota.