COLUMBUS, Ohio – Sophomore Alex Limoges (Winchester, Va.) scored the eventual game-winner setting the Penn State single-season goal record in the process as the fourth-ranked Nittany Lions defeated No. 1 Ohio State on Sunday afternoon in Big Ten semifinal action from Value City Arena.
Penn State advances to its second Big Ten Championship game in the last three seasons and will travel to South Bend next Saturday to face the second-seeded Notre Dame Irish with puck drop slated for 8 p.m.
The Nittany Lions improve to 22-14-2 on the year with the victory while the Buckeyes drop to 20-10-5 overall with the loss.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Penn State opened the scoring Limoges won a battle on the near half-wall and centered a pass to a wide open Liam Folkes (Scarborough, Ontario) and he used some nifty mitts to undress Buckeye goaltender Tommy Nappier slipping the puck past his left pad for the 1-0 lead at 11:23 of the first period.
- Limoges tilted the lead to 2-0 right before the end of the opening frame as he finished off a cross-ice feed from sophomore Evan Barratt (Bristol, Pa.) with just 1.2 seconds remaining in the period.
- The Nittany Lions extended the lead further taking advantage of a five-minute major power-play as junior Kris Myllari (Kanata, Ontario) found classmate Brandon Biro (Sherwood Park, Alberta) on the backdoor for the tap in goal and 3-0 lead at 14:52 of the second period.
- The Buckeyes looked to have gotten on the board late in the second period as Tanner Laczynski chipped in a rebound, but the play was reviewed and deemed no goal due to Ohio State entering the zone offside.
- Junior Nate Sucese (Fairport, N.Y.) wasted little time in the third period winning a neutral zone battle in front of the benches and skating into the slot firing a shot through Nappier from the right circle for the 4-0 margin at 2:22 of the frame.
- Ohio State ended the shutout bid as right after time expired on a power-play John Wiitala snapped one past the blocker of PSU junior net-minder Peyton Jones (Langhorne, Pa.) from the slot for the 4-1 deficit at 15:38 of the third period.
- Sucese then hit the empty net from his stomach with just 47 seconds left in the game to seal the victory.
GOALTENDING
Jones improves to 18-11-2 on the year after a 31 save performance while Nappier falls to 12-3-3 on the year after also stopping 31 shots on the afternoon.
NOTES
- With one goal and one assist Limoges has set a new Penn State single-season goals record with 23 breaking a tie with Casey Bailey and Andrew Sturtz '18. Limoges' 50 points are now tied for the national lead while his six goals in the tournament have set a new single-tournament record surpassing the one held by Michigan's Kyle Connor from 2016.
- Limoges collects his 16th multi-point effort this season and the 19th of his career in the process while extending his career-best goal-streak to five games. The sophomore's 30 th career goal moves him into a tie with Brandon Biro for tenth all-time at Penn State.
- Following his first period goal, Folkes has extended his career-best point-streak to six games while setting a new career-best with goals in three-straight games.
- With a pair of goals Sucese registers his second multi-goal game this season and the ninth of his career marking his ninth multi-point effort on the year and the 23rd of his career. Sucese also became just the third Nittany Lion in program history to hit the 50 career goal mark following his two-goal game.
- Following a pair of secondary assists, sophomore Evan Bell (Livonia, Mich.) picks up his first multi-point game this season and the second of his career.
- Penn State's improves its Big Ten Tournament wins record to 10 while the 17 goals scored in the tournament so far also set a new tournament record passing the 15 scored by Michigan in 2016. The Nittany Lions are now 10-5 in Big Ten Tournament play.
- With 10 points each in four games so far this tournament, Folkes and Limoges each hold the Big Ten Tournament record for most points in a single-tournament.
- Hults moves into fifth all-time in goals by a defenseman with the ninth of his career while his 28 points are now the third most in a single-season by a defenseman in program history.
- The 22 wins this season are the second most in program history.
- Penn State controlled the pace of play holding the 36-32 edge in shots while going 1-for-2 with the man-advantage and 4-for-4 on the penalty kill.