MADISON, Wis. – No. 6 Wisconsin used four unanswered goals to secure the 4-1 win and series sweep against No. 17 Penn State in Big Ten conference action on Saturday evening inside the Kohl Center.
Penn State falls to 9-7-3 overall and 2-5-3-0-0-2 in conference play with the loss while the Badgers improve to 14-4-0 on the year and 8-2-0-0-0-0 in Big Ten play with the victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Penn State opened the scoring just 60 ticks in as senior Jimmy Dowd Jr. (Point Pleasant Bech, N.J.) corralled a loose puck behind the net and wrapped it inside the far post after freshman Aiden Fink's (Calgary, Alberta) initial bid from the slot went wide for the 1-0 edge.
- Wisconsin evened the contest as Anthony Kehrer picked the corner from the far slot off a cross-ice pass from Cruz Lucius for the 1-1 score at 13:35 of the opening frame.
- The Badgers took the lead midway through the second period converting on a 2-on-0 rush as Christian Fitzgerald got in alone on senior goaltender Liam Souliere (Brampton, Ontario) beating him through the five-hole for the 2-1 edge at the 10:07 mark.
- Wisconsin killed off a five-minute major penalty that extended from the second and into the third and then pushed its lead to 3-1 as Charlie Stramel redirected a point shot from Joe Palodichuk at the top of the crease and past Souliere at the 4:00 minutes mark.
- Jack Horbach would hit the empty net with just two seconds remaining in the game to account for the 4-1 final.
GOALTENDING
Souliere falls to 6-4-1 on the year after making 18 saves in the loss while his counterpart, William Gramme, moves to 2-0-0 this season after stopping 25-of-26 shots in the win.
NOTES
- Penn State held the slim 26-22 edge in shots on goal, but went 0-for-5 on the man-advantage for the second-straight game including the five-minute major. The Nittany Lions were 2-for-2 on the penalty kill.
- Dowd's first period goal is his first of the season and moves him into a tie with Clayton Phillips '22 and Paul DeNaples '23 for sixth on the Penn State all-time goals list for defensemen with 10 for his career. His 57 points are also now tied with Kevin Kerr '19 for the fifth-most by Nittany Lion blue-liners all-time.
- Dowd's goal just 60 seconds into the contest marks the fastest goal for Penn State to open a game this season.
- Penn State has now opened the scoring in 10 of its first 19 games but falls to 7-3-0 in such contests with the loss.
NEXT UP
Penn State takes the next four weeks off before returning to action with a single contest against Army West Point on January 6 in Hockey Valley.
For more information on the 2023-24 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.