UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Senior Connor McMenamin (Collegeville, Pa.) recorded the lone Nittany Lion goal as 10th-ranked Penn State dropped a, 2-1, decision to Wisconsin in Big Ten Conference action on Saturday evening inside Pegula Ice Arena.
The Nittany Lions finish the regular season 20-13-1 overall and 10-13-1-0-3-0 in Big Ten play with the loss while the Badgers improve to 13-21-0 on the year and 6-18-0-0-0-0 in conference action.
Penn State will be on the road next weekend in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals and can travel to either Michigan State, Notre Dame or Ohio State pending the outcome of the Notre Dame vs. Michigan game Saturday evening.
If the Irish lose outright the Nittany Lions will travel to Michigan State, if Notre Dame wins Penn State will travel to South Bend and should Notre Dame win in overtime Columbus will be the destination next weekend for the best-of-three series.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Wisconsin opened the scoring in this one taking advantage of a powerplay as Carson Bantle found Corson Ceulemans on the backdoor for the 1-0 edge at 12:33 of the first period.
- The Nittany Lions evened the score midway through the middle frame as senior Kevin Wall (Penfield, N.Y.) jolted up the far wing and feathered a pass across the ice to McMenamin and he hit the yawning net for the 1-1 score at the 11:03 mark.
- The Badgers regained the lead early in the third period as Mathieu De St. Phalle snuck one shortside over the right shoulder of Penn State junior goaltender Liam Souliere (Brampton, Ontario) for the 2-1 score at the 6:19 mark.
GOALTENDING
Souliere drops to 17-12-1 after making 20 saves in the loss while his counterpart, Kyle McClellan, moves to 3-5-0 on the year after stopping 47-of-48 shots in the victory.
NOTES
- Penn State held the commanding 48-22 edge in shots on goal including an impressive 22-4 mark in the third period, but went 0-for-4 on the man-advantage including a pair of major penalties on the Badgers. Wisconsin finished 1-for-2 on the powerplay.
- Saturday night's crowd of 6,557 marks the third largest in Pegula Ice Arena history and the third largest this season.
- Wisconsin snaps a six-game losing skid against Penn State as the all-time series now stands at 27-19-3 in favor of the Nittany Lions.
- The opening goal for the Badgers marked just the 11th time in 34 games this season that the Nittany Lions have failed to score first, Wisconsin now accounts for two of those games. Penn State is now 4-7-0 in such games following the loss.
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.