MADISON, Wis. – The 15th-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions dropped their fourth-straight game to open the 2020-21 season as No. 14 Wisconsin earned the series sweep with a 7-3 victory in Big Ten Conference action on Tuesday evening from LaBahn Arena.
Penn State drops to 0-4-0 to start the year while Wisconsin improves to 4-2-0.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Wisconsin opened the scoring as Linus Weissbach skated up the left side and fired a wrist shot from below the left dot that beat Nittany Lion freshman net-minder Liam Souliere (Brampton, Ontario) to the short-side and high for the 1-0 edge at 6:43 of the first period.
- Dominick Mersch doubled the lead for the Badgers at 9:06 of the opening frame as he smacked home a rebound out front after Jason Dhooghe's initial bid was turned aside.
- Cole Caufield added a powerplay goal for Wisconsin as he made a nice move entering the zone, skated below the right dot and fired a wrister through the legs of Souliere for the 3-0 score at 17:21 of the stanza.
- Penn State cut into that deficit early in the second period as senior Alex Limoges (Winchester, Va.) was left wide open by the far post and freshman Jimmy Dowd Jr. found him for an easy finish after a beautiful cross-ice pass for the 3-1 score at 4:21.
- Wisconsin got that goal back as Tarek Baker found himself with a shorthanded breakaway and he deposited the biscuit past the blocker of Souliere for the 4-1 score at 18:56 of the second period.
- The Badgers extended the lead to 6-1 with a pair of goals in the opening 79 seconds of the third period as Sam Stange collected his third goal of the series just 26 ticks in and Cole Caufield added his second of the game and third of the series at 1:19.
- The Nittany Lions never quit scoring twice in just 65 seconds to cut into the deficit to 6-3 midway through the period. Freshman Xander Lamppa (Rochester, Minn.) scored his first collegiate goal right on the welcome mat at 8:49 and senior Clayton Phillips (Edina, Minn.) zig-zagged through the defense while on the powerplay and sent a blistering shot over the glove of Badger goaltender Robbie Beydoun at 9:54.
- Caufield added an empty net goal for the hat trick and 7-3 victory at 17:57 of the third period.
GOALTENDING
Souliere falls to 0-2-0 on the year after making 20 saves while Beydoun improves to 4-2-0 after stopping 35-of-38 shots.
NOTES
- The Nittany Lions outshot the Badgers 38-27 including a 28-12 clip over the final two periods while going 1-for-5 with the man-advantage. Wisconsin went 1-for-3 on the powerplay.
- Wisconsin blocked 32 shots in the contest to just eight for Penn State.
- The Nittany Lions controlled the draw on the night winning 42-of-71 faceoffs (59 percent).
- The seven goals allowed by Penn State are the most since also allowing seven goals against the Badgers during a 7-3 loss at Pegula Ice Arena on February 23, 2018.
- The shorthanded goal by Wisconsin is the first against the Nittany Lions since February 1, 2020 when Notre Dame's Cam Morrison tallied a shorty.
- Limoges secured his first multi-point game of the season and the 28th of his career with a one goal and one assist showing while senior Sam Sternschein (Syosset, N.Y.) added a pair of assists for his first multi-point effort of the season and the 10th of his career.
- With one goal and one assists Wall secured just his second career multipoint effort, his first of 2020-21.
- Wall sees his career-best goal scoring streak end at four games as he was kept off the scoresheet for the first time this season.
- Wisconsin cuts into its deficit in the all-time series, which now stands at 20-15-3 in favor of Penn State, however, the Badgers are now 5-1-2 in the last eight games in Madison.
NEXT UP
Penn State returns home and has a much-needed week of rest after playing four games in six days. The Nittany Lions next welcome fourth-ranked Michigan to Pegula Ice Arena to kick off the 2020-21 home slate on December 2-3.
For more information on the 2020-21 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.