MADISON, Wis. – Senior Liam Folkes (Scarborough, Ontario) scored twice, but Wisconsin scored late to defeat No. 9 Penn State, 4-3, in Big Ten Conference action on Friday night at the Kohl Center.
The Nittany Lions fall to 18-10-3 on the year and 10-8-3-0 in conference play while Wisconsin snaps a five-game losing streak improving to 11-17-1 overall and 6-14-1-1 in Big Ten action. For the moment, Minnesota has tied Penn State for first place in the Big Ten standings with 33 points while Michigan State and Ohio State remain just two points back with 31 and Michigan pulls to within three with 30 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Wisconsin opened the scoring getting a pair of quick goals just 11 seconds apart as Mike Vorlicky took advantage of a defensive zone turnover by Penn State and lifted the backhand past Nittany Lion senior net-minder Peyton Jones (Langhorne, Pa.) at 9:17 before Josh Ess sent a point shot on net that redirected off a body and past Jones for the 2-0 margin at 9:28 of the first frame.
- Penn State cut the deficit in half as junior Alex Limoges (Winchester, Va.) sent a feed out front from behind the net and Folkes did not miss from point-blank range for the 2-1 score at 10:10 of the first period.
- The Badgers regained the two-goal advantage as Max Zimmer turned and fired a bouncing puck past Jones from the right circle at 15:25 of the opening stanza.
- The Nittany Lions cute the deficit to a single goal midway through the second period as Folkes blasted home a rebound off a point shot from sophomore Paul DeNaples (Moscow, Pa.) for the 3-2 score at the 8:03 mark.
- PSU kept pressing and got the equalizer as DeNaples sent an absolute blast off the far pipe and in from just above the right dot for the 3-3 score at 12:04 of the middle frame.
- With Penn State controlling the pace of play for most of the final two periods Wisconsin took the lead with just 64 seconds remaining in the contest as Dylan Holloway finished off a feed from Ty Pelton-Byce for the 4-3 win.
GOALTENDING
Jones falls to 16-9-2 with the loss after making 23 saves while his counterpart, Daniel Lebedeff improves to 9-13-0 after making 35 stops including 18 in the third period.
NOTES
- Penn State held the 38-27 edge in shots on goal while going 3-for-3 on the penalty kill, but 0-for-2 on the power-play.
- Both Folkes and Limoges secured career point No. 100 on Folkes' first period goal becoming the seventh and eighth Nittany Lions in program history to reach that milestone.
- With a pair of goals, Folkes secured his second multi-goal game this season and the seventh of his career while also marking his sixth multi-point effort of the campaign and the 23rd of his career.
- Folkes now has 12 goals and eight asissts for 20 points in just 16 career games against Wisconsin.
- With a trio of assists, Limoges collected his eighth multi-point effort this season and the 27th of his career.
- With one goal and one assist, DeNaples registered his first multi-point effort this season and the third of his career. His three goals are now a new career-high.
- With a single assist junior Cole Hults (Stoughton, Wis.) has now tied his career-high of 28 points set last season and is just two points shy of the Penn State single-season record for points by a defenseman.
- Both Folkes and Limoges extended their point-streaks to four games while Hults extends his to three.
- This marks just the second time all season Penn State has lost a game when tied or leading heading into the final period moving to 18-2-3 in such games.
NEXT UP
Both teams return to the Kohl Center tomorrow evening to conclude the season series with a 8 p.m. EST puck drop.
For more information on the 2019-20 season presented by the Penn State Bookstore: the Official Bookstore of Penn State Athletics, visit the men's hockey page at GoPSUsports.com or call 1-800-NITTANY Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.