COLUMBUS, Ohio – Senior classmates Kevin Wall (Penfield, N.Y.) and Connor MacEachern (Brooklin, Ontario) each tallied twice as No. 9 Penn State defeated No. 7 Ohio State, 4-3, in Big Ten Conference action on Friday evening inside Value City Arena.
The Nittany Lions improve to 19-9-1 overall and 9-9-1-0-2-0 in Big Ten play with the victory while the Buckeyes fall to 16-10-1 on the year and 9-8-0-0-0-0 in conference action with the loss.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Penn State opened the scoring early in the first period as a blocked shot at one end of the ice from junior Christian Berger (St. Louis, Mo.) led to an odd-man rush the other way and it was Wall sneaking a shot through the five-hole of Buckeye net-minder Jakub Dobes for the 1-0 edge at the 4:49 mark.
- The Nittany Lions extended the lead to a pair as senior Tyler Gratton (Pottstown, Pa.) and MacEachern waited out a defender along with Dobes on an odd-man rush and the latter slipped the puck through the Buckeye goaltender for the 2-0 lead at 14:38 of the first period.
- Ohio State cut the deficit in half under two minutes later as Tate Singleton beat Penn State freshman goaltender Noah Grannan (Germantown, Wis.) for the 2-1 score at the 16:14 mark.
- Penn State regained the lead midway through the second period as MacEachern secured his second of the night as he one-timed a shot from the right dot past the blocker of Dobes on a puck off the end boards for the 3-1 advantage at 12:00 of the middle frame.
- The Buckeyes again responded quickly as just 66 ticks later it was Davis Burnside jamming in a rebound for the 3-2 deficit at the 13:06 mark.
- Ohio State evened the game with a powerplay tally midway through the third period as Jake Wise Picked the far corner over the blocker of Grannan for the 3-3 score at the 12:01 mark.
- With just over two minutes remaining in the third period it was Wall who skated through the neutrzal zone a sniped a shot between three Buckeyes that beat Dobes past the glove for the 4-3 lead at the 17:40 mark.
GOALTENDING
Grannan improves to 3-1-0 on the year while picking up his first Big Ten win of his career following a career-high 32 saves in the victory while Dobes drops to 16-10-1 this season after stopping 22 shots in the defeat.
NOTES
- Penn State was outshot for just the second time all season as Ohio State held the 35-26 edge, however, the Nittany Lions have won both such games this season. The Buckeyes went 1-for-2 on the powerplay while Penn State was 0-for-3 with the man-advantage.
- The opening goal marked the 21st time in 29 games this season that Penn State has scored first as the Nittany Lions improve to 15-5-1 in such games.
- The two goals for MacEachern mark his second multi-goal effort of the season and the fourth of his career while also being his fifth multi-point game of the season and the 14th of his career.
- For Wall the two-goal game marks his second this season and the sixth of his career and it is his fourth multi-point effort this season and the 18th of his career.
- With his first period assist, Berger runs his current point streak to three games to tie his career-high that he has now reached three times in his career.
NEXT UP
The two squads return to the Schott tomorrow night to close out the season series with a 6:30 p.m. puck drop that will air live across the country on the B1G Network.
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.