UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – No. 6/5 Penn State battled to the final horn, however, it wasn't enough as No. 17 Ohio State secured the 4-3 victory and series split in Big Ten Conference action on Saturday evening inside Pegula Ice Arena.
Penn State drops to 14-4-0 on the year and 6-4-0 in Big Ten play with the loss while the Buckeyes improve to 10-7-1 overall and 5-5-0 in conference action.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Penn State opened the scoring early with a shorthanded tally as senior Kevin Wall (Penfield, N.Y.) lifted the puck over the glove of Buckeye goaltender Jakub Dobes off a brilliant cross-ice feed from Ben Schoen for the 1-0 edge at 2:27 of the first period.
- Ohio State wasted little time finding the equalizer as just 24 ticks later Jake Wise was the beneficiary of a fumbled puck in the defensive zone as he had a yawning net to shoot into after Michael Gildon's initial chace was blocked out from at the 2:51 mark.
- The Buckeyes then grabbed their first lead of the weekend as a loose puck near the crease was slotted home by Jaedon Leslie for the 2-1 advantage at 5:59 of the first period.
- The Nittany Lions evened the score during a 4-on-4 stretch as junior Jimmy Dowd Jr. (Point Pleasant Beach, N.J.) feathered a cross-ice pass to sophomore Danny Dzhaniyev (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and he fired a one-timer into a yawning net for 2-2 score at 13:57 of the opening stanza.
- Ohio State again had a quick response as Tate Singleton had a yawning net and he didn't miss from the right faceoff dot for the 3-2 lead just 56 ticks later.
- The Buckeyes pushed the lead to a pair early in the second period as Joe Dunlap redirected a pass from Patrick Guzzo over the shoulder of Nittany Lion junior Liam Souliere (Brampton, Ontario) and inside the far post for the 4-2 advantage at the 4:14 mark.
- Penn State cut the deficit to a single goal early in the third period as senior Ture Linden (Great falls, Va.) snapped a eight-game goalless drought as he slipped home a rebound after a pair of blocked shots for the 4-3 score at 6:22 of the final frame.
- The Nittany Lions pulled the goalie with under two minutes to play and after receiving a late powerplay with just 66 seconds remaining they skated 6-on-4, but could not find the equalizer.
GOALTENDING
- Souliere falls to 12-4-0 on the year after making 20 saves in the setback while his counterpart, Dobes, improves to 10-7-1 after stopping 37-of-40 shots in the victory.
NOTES
- The Nittany Lions held the commanding 40-24 edge in shots on goal, but went 0-for-5 on the powerplay, however, were a perfect 3-for-3 on the penalty kill.
- Penn State once again scored the opening goal of the game for the 14th time in 18 games this season, but it was just the second time they haven't been victorious falling to 12-2-0 in such games.
- With a pair of assists sophomore Ben Schoen (Maumee, Ohio) collected his third multi-point effort this season and the ninth of his career.
- The first period assist for Dowd gives him 36 for his career to tie Vince Pedrie for seventh on the all-time assist list for Penn State defensemen.
- Penn State drops to 6-2-0 this season in games decided by one goal and the Nittany Lions are now just 5-4-0 in series finales including four-straight losses in Big Ten weekends.
NEXT UP
- Penn State closes out the fall semester with a road series in South Bend against the No. 20 Notre Dame Fighting Irish next Friday and Saturday.
- The Nittany Lions then have three weeks off for the holidays before resuming its schedule with a home and home series against RIT on December 30-31.
For more information on the 2022-23 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.