Ohio State women’s hockey had never been a national championship contender before Nadine Muzerall became the Buckeyes’ head coach.
That doesn’t even begin to describe the state of the program Muzerall inherited when she accepted the head coaching job at Ohio State in September 2016. She was hired just weeks before the start of the 2016-17 season after former head coach Jenny Potter was fired for committing NCAA violations. The Buckeyes’ previous head coach, Nate Handrahan, was ousted less than two years before that following an investigation into sexual harassment complaints.
Ohio State had never won more than 20 games in a season before Muzerall’s arrival, nor had it ever even made the NCAA Tournament.