4 Ohio State (16-12-5, 6-8-5-4 B1G) |
Box Score | Postgame Player Comments | Postgame Coach Comments University Park, Pa. • Pegula Ice Arena • Attendance: 5,767 | 2 Penn State (6-25-2, 2-16-1-0 B1G) |
March 14, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Sophomore forward Jonathan Milley (Gatineau, Que.) and freshman defenseman Mike Williamson (Leduc, Alta.) both scored as the Penn State men's hockey team (6-25-2, 2-16-1-0 Big Ten) suffered a 4-2 setback against Ohio State (16-12-5, 6-8-5-4 Big Ten) at Pegula Ice Arena Friday night.
After the Buckeyes skated to a 2-0 lead, Williamson netted his second power-play goal, and first since Nov. 1 against Robert Morris, with 14:46 left in the second period to halve the deficit. Ohio State responded with two strikes in a 35-second span to make it a 4-1 game before Milley scored his first of the season at 18:05 of the third stanza.
Penn State out shot the Buckeyes, who converted 1-of-6 power-play opportunities, by a 42-30 margin and went 1-for-4 with the man advantage. Junior goaltender PJ Musico (Orange, Calif.) turned aside 26 shots, while Ohio State's Christian Frey made 40 saves. Ryan Dzingel (2g, 1a) and Nick Schilkey (1g, 2a) led the Buckeyes with three points each.
In the first period, Dzingel scored the frame's lone goal while on the power play. Max McCormick passed to Dzingel in the right circle, where his shot went off the post and into the net with 10:53 left to play. The Buckeye forward then netted his second goal of the game in the middle stanza when he collected Nick Oddo's pass to the right of the net and scored at 3:08.
Williamson helped cut the Buckeye lead to 2-1 just 2:06 later. While on the power play, redshirt sophomore Eric Scheid (Blaine, Minn.) won an offensive zone faceoff to Williamson at the point, where the Leduc, Alta., native's shot went off two Buckeyes before going up and over Frey.
Ohio State responded with Oddo's marker with 13:10 remaining in the frame. Curtis Gedig started the play in the Buckeyes' defensive zone before finding Nick Schilkey, who assisted on the second Ohio State goal, in the neutral zone. The forward then located Oddo, whose shot from the left circle went off the post and into the net.
The Buckeyes added to their lead 35 seconds later to make it a 4-1 game. After Dzingel passed to Josh Healey, the defenseman's shot was stopped before Schilkey netted the rebound.
With 1:55 left in the game, Milley cut the deficit to 4-2 with the goaltender pulled for an extra skater. From the right corner, freshman David Goodwin (Des Peres, Mo.) passed to classmate David Thompson (Glen Mills, Pa.) at the blue line. The Glen Mills, Pa., native then threw the puck toward the cage, where Milley knocked it in for the goal.
The Nittany Lions will close out the 2013-14 regular season and the inaugural year at Pegula Ice Arena Saturday (March 15) against Ohio State. Game time is set at 3 p.m.