COLUMBUS, Ohio – Freshman Dylan Lugris (Buffalo, N.Y.) potted the game-winning goal in the third period to lift Penn State to a 2-1 win and series victory over No. 12 Ohio State in game three of the B1G quarterfinal best-of-three series on Sunday evening inside Value City Arena.
Penn State improves to 17-19-1 this season with the victory while Ohio State drops to 22-13-2 overall with the setback.
Penn State becomes the first road team to win a best-of-three Big Ten quarterfinal series as the Nittany Lions run their conference tournament record to 13-8-0 all-time while advancing to its seventh-straight tournament semifinal and a conference-best eighth overall. PSU's 13 tournament victories are also the most all-time.
The Nittany Lions will travel to regular-season champion and top-seeded No. 2 Minnesota for the Big Ten semifinals next Saturday night at 9:00 p.m. ET.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- After a scoreless first period, Penn State opened the scoring for the second-straight night as freshman Ben Schoen (Maumee, Ohio) set up classmate Ryan Kirwan (DeWitt, N.Y.) for a one-timer at the right circle and the rookie didn't miss lacing the shot past the glove of OSU net-minder Jakub Dobes for the 1-0 lead at 13:30 of the middle frame.
- Ohio State responded late in the second period as it was Jake Wise spinning at the blue-line and firing a tape-to-tape pass to Tate Singleton below the right dot and he laced a shot inside the near post for the 1-1 score at the 18:52 mark.
- The Nittany Lions regained the lead in the third period as senior Paul DeNaples (Moscow, Pa.) sent a crisp cross-ice pass to Lugris below the left dot and the rookie waited for Dobes to come across the crease before firing the puck off the far post and in for the 2-1 lead at the 13:07 mark.
GOALTENDING
- Souliere improves to 7-6-1 on the year after making 23 saves on the night while Dobes drops to 21-12-2 after stopping 35 shots.
- Souliere has now allowed two goals or less in seven of his last 10 starts.
NOTES
- Penn State held the 35-24 edge in shots on goal, while going 0-for-3 on the powerplay and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.
- With his second period goal, Kirwan now has 13 on the season to tie Chase Berger '19 for the sixth most in a single-season by a freshman in program history. His 26 points are also tied with Berger for the fifth-most by a freshman in a single-season all-time.
- Lugris has now registered a point and scored a goal in back-to-back games for the first time in his young career.
- Led by senior Paul DeNaples (Moscow, Pa.) with four blocked shots, Penn State had 23 on the night to just 15 for the Buckeyes.
- The road team in a Big Ten best-of-three quarterfinal series is now just 5-23-0 as Penn State becomes the first traveling team to win a series and win a game three.
- The back-to-back wins mark just the second time this season Penn State has won two-straight conference games dating back to its January 21-22 series against Wisconsin at Pegula Ice Arena.
- The back-to-back wins also mark the first for the Nittany Lions on the road since December 7 and 13 of 2019 when they defeated Michigan and Notre Dame on consecutive weekends.
- The Nittany Lions improve to 16-4-1 when scoring first while the victory was the second-straight and just the third of the season for Penn State in one goal games.
For more information on the 2021-22 season presented by the Penn State Bookstore: 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.