SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Senior Alex Limoges (Winchester, Va.) had a hand in all three Penn State goals setting a new all-time Big Ten Tournament record with 17 points in 10 tournament games, but it was not enough as No.5 and top-seeded Wisconsin won 4-3 in overtime Monday evening in Big Ten semifinal action from Compton Family Ice Arena.
With the Pairwise rankings not being used this season as the sole deciding factor for NCAA tournament selection, the Nittany Lions will now await a possible at-large bid when the bracket is revealed next Sunday night at 7 p.m. on ESPN.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Badgers (20-8-1) opened the scoring late in the first period as Sam Stange was left all alone in front of the crease and he finished off a feed from Dominick Mersch for the 1-0 advantage at 18:55 of the frame.
- Penn State (10-12-0) answered midway through the second period as freshman Jimmy Dowd Jr. (Point Pleasant Beach, N.J.) sent a shot on net from the right point that redirected off Limoges' skate and past Wisconsin net-minder Robbie Beydoun for the 1-1 tie at 9:21 of the stanza.
- The Nittany Lions grabbed the 2-1 lead as senior Tim Doherty (Portsmouth, R.I.) potted his second goal as he ripped home the rebound after freshman Christian Sarlo (Lynnbrook, N.Y.) was initially turned aside at 1:44 of the third period.
- Wisconsin tied the contest midway through the final frame as Ty Emberson ripped a shot from the slot through traffic for the 2-2 score at the 9:45 mark.
- Doherty added his second of the game slipping the puck five-hole for the 3-2 lead at 11:50 of the third period, but Wisconsin answered again as Cole Caufield scored on the powerplay just a few minutes later for the 3-3 tie at the 14:07 mark.
- Caufield added his second goal of the game at the 6:50 mark of overtime as after receiving a stretch pass from Ty Emberson he skated in on a breakaway and beat Nittany Lion junior goaltender Oskar Autio (Espoo, Finland) through the five-hole for the golden goal and 4-3 victory.
GOALTENDING
Autio made a career-high 41 saves on the night but falls to 9-9-0 on the season while Beydoun improves to 11-7-0 after stopping 43-of-46 shots.
NOTES
- Penn State held the slim 46-45 edge in shots on goal but were unable to convert on its lone man-advantage of the game, the five-minute major early in the third period. Wisconsin went 1-for-3 on the powerplay.
- The Nittany Lions drop their first-ever overtime Big Ten Tournament game falling to 4-1 all-time in the extra session during tournament play.
- Wisconsin held the commanding edge at the faceoff dot winning 42-of-65 (64.6 percent) draws in the game.
- Limoges collected his seventh multi-point effort of the season and the 34th of his career with one goal and a pair of assists. His three points give him 17 all-time in Big Ten Tournament play as he moves past former linemate Liam Folkes '20 for the most all-time in just 10 games. His goal also marked his seventh in the Big Ten Tournament moving him into a tie with a handful of former Big Ten student-athletes for second all-time in tournament history just one shy of Folkes' record eight tournament tallies.
- With a pair of goals, Doherty collects his first multi-goal game as a Nittany Lion and the fifth of his career it also marks his fourth multi-point game this season and the 22nd of his career.
- With his two assists, Sarlo registered just his second multi-point effort this season.
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.