COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State used four unanswered third period goals to come-from-behind and defeat No. 16 Penn State, 4-1, to complete the weekend sweep inside Value City Arena on Saturday evening.
Penn State falls to 6-3-0 on the year and 0-2-0 in the Big Ten while Ohio State improves to 6-2-0 overall and 3-1-0 in conference action with the win.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Penn State once again opened the scoring for the sixth-consecutive game as junior Connor MacEachern (Brooklin, Ontario) slotted home his own rebound at 3:50 of the first period for the 1-0 edge.
- Ohio State evened the score early in the third period as Mason Lohrei ripped home a rebound from the low slot for the 1-1 score at 4:30 of the final frame.
- The Buckeyes then grabbed their first lead of the game just 41 seconds later as Dominic Vidoli laced a wrister from the slot over the glove of Nittany Lion senior net-minder Oskar Autio (Espoo, Finland) for the 2-1 advantage at the 5:11 mark.
- Joe Dunlap extended the lead for the hosts as he lifted a wrister over the shoulder of Autio from the right dot at 13:10 of the third period.
- Mark Cheremeta hit the empty night to secure the 4-1 victory at 17:53 of the third period.
GOALTENDING
Autio falls to 4-2-0 on the year after making 25 saves in the defeat while his counterpart, Jakub Dobes improves to 6-1-0 after stopping 28-of-29 shots in the victory.
NOTES
- The Nittany Lions are now outscoring teams 12-3 in the first period this season having scored at least one first period goal in eight of their first nine games.
- MacEachern has now scored at least one goal ion three-straight contests, a new career-best, while securing at least one point in five of his last six games. His current three-game point-streak also ties his career long.
- Penn State was outscored 7-1 in the third period over the two-game series and is now being outscored 16-13 this season over the final 20 minutes.
- Senior Ben Copeland (Edina, Minn.) and junior Kevin Wall (Penfield, N.Y.) each see their season-long four-game point streaks snapped in the defeat.
- The Nittany Lions dropped both games this weekend after having the early 1-0 lead and fall to 6-2-0 on the year when scoring first. Saturday night's contest also marks the first time this season Penn State has been defeated when holding the lead entering the final period of play.
- Penn State held the slim 30-29 edge in shots on goal while going a perfect 2-for-2 on the penalty kill, but were 0-for-3 with the man-advantage on the evening.
NEXT UP
Penn State returns to Pegula Ice Arena next weekend for a two-game Big Ten series against No. 3 Michigan on Thursday and Friday evening.
For more information on the 2021-22 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.