UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – A late goal by junior Ryan Kirwan (DeWitt, N.Y.) forced overtime, but Penn State dropped a heartbreaker 3-2 midway through the extra session in Big Ten Conference action on Saturday evening inside Pegula Ice Arena.
The Nittany Lions earned one point in the Big Ten standings but drop to 13-16-3 on the year and 5-14-3-0-1-2 in conference action with the overtime loss while the Badgers secure the additional two points and improve to 24-8-2 overall and 15-6-1- 2-2-1 in Big Ten play with the win.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Penn State opened the scoring late in the first period as junior Dylan Lugris (Buffalo, N.Y.) slipped in a rebound after classmate Simon Mack's (Brockville, Ontario) initial shot was turned aside at the 17:16 mark.
- The Badgers secured the equalizer last in the second period as David Silye redirected a shot pass from Daniel Laatsch inside the far post for the 1-1 score at the 18:11 mark.
- Wisconsin grabbed its first lead of the game with a powerplay tally midway through the third period as Christian Fitzgerald picked the corner over the glove of Nittany Lion senior net-minder Liam Souliere (Brampton, Ontario) from the slot for the 2-1 edge at the 7:04 mark.
- Senior Christian Sarlo (Lynbrook, N.Y.) won a battle on the near halfwall and fed Kirwan who laced a wicked wrister from the left faceoff dot that Badger goaltender Kyle McClellan never saw for the 2-2 score at 12:27 of the third period.
- Midway through the extra session Ben Dexheimer slipped a backhanded effort through the legs of Souliere at the 2:34 mark for the 3-2 victory.
GOALTENDING
- Souliere drops to 10-12-1 on the year after making 28 saves in the defeat while his counterpart, McClellan stopped 38-of-40 shots in the victory to move to 22-8-1.
NOTES
- Penn State held the 40-31 edge in shots on goal, but went 0-for-3 on the man-advantage including a five-minute major powerplay. Wisconsin went 1-for-5 on the powerplay.
- Saturday night's attendance of 6,569 marks the third largest crowd ever at Pegula Ice Arena, each of the top three have come in the last three home series.
- The Nittany Lions drop to 9-6-0 on the year when scoring first.
- Kirwan's score snapped a 10-game goalless drought as his third period tally was his first goal since his hat-trick against Army back on January 6.
NEXT UP
Penn State closes out the regular season on the road next weekend at Ohio State.
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.