COLUMBUS, Ohio – Junior goaltender Liam Souliere (Brampton, Ontario) set a Penn State single-game record with 55 saves as the tenth-ranked Nittany Lions defeated No. 9 Ohio State, 2-1, in overtime in game two of the Big Ten Quarterfinals on Saturday evening inside Value City Arena.
The Nittany Lions improve to 21-14-1 on the year with the victory while Ohio State falls to 19-14-3 overall with the loss.
Penn State will be in familiar territory tomorrow with a winner-take-all game three in Columbus for the second-straight year. Following Saturday's victory, the Nittany Lions are now 5-0 all-time in Big Ten quarterfinal elimination games since the conference adopted the best-of-three series prior to the 2017-18 season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- After over 56 minutes of scoreless hockey Penn State used a strong forecheck to cause a turnover at the near half wall and junior Xander Lamppa (Rochester, Minn.) found sophomore Ryan Kirwan (DeWitt, N.Y.) all alone in front for a one-timer and he did not miss giving the Nittany Lions the 1-0 lead at the 16:03 mark of the third period.
- The Buckeyes found the late equalizer with the goaltender pulled as Joe Dunlap snuck one shortside through a screen out front for the 1-1 score with just 94 ticks left in the final frame to force overtime.
- Midway through the extra session during a 4-on-4 stretch of play Senior Kevin Wall (Penfield, N.Y.) fired the winning goal into the back of the net past the blocker of Jakub Dobes off a nice pass from classmate Connor MacEachern (Brooklin, Ontario) for the 2-1 victory at the 10:35 mark.
GOALTENDING
- Souliere moves to 18-13-1 after making 55 saves in the victory while Dobes falls to 19-14-3 on the year after stopping 30 shots in the loss.
- Souliere's record-setting night surpasses the previous mark of 52 saves held by Matt Skoff since March 20, 2014, a 2-1 double-overtime victory in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals against Michigan.
- Souliere is the third goaltender in Penn State history to reach the 50-save mark as Peyton Jones made 51 stops in the 2017 Big Ten Championship victory over Wisconsin.
- Souliere's 18 wins are now tied with Peyton Jones '20 for the second-most in a single-season in program history.
NOTES
- Ohio State held the commanding 56-32 edge in shots on goal marking just the sixth time in 36 games this season the Nittany Lions have been out shot, five of those games have now come at the hands of the Buckeyes.
- Penn State is now 5-1 all-time in overtime during the Big Ten Tournament.
- Penn State was a perfect 4-for-4 on the penalty kill including killing off a five-minute major, but went 0-for-2 with the man-advantage themselves.
- Penn State scored the opening goal for the 34th time in 36 games this season improving to 17-6-1 when doing so. The Nittany Lions are now 9-7-1 in games decided by one goal or less this season.
- Tonight's game marked the first game all season that has been scoreless after 40 minutes of action and the first time the Nittany Lions have failed to get on the scoreboard over the first two periods of play.
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.