Men's Hockey Concludes Regular Season at Ohio State This WeekendMen's Hockey Concludes Regular Season at Ohio State This Weekend
Mark Selders

Men's Hockey Concludes Regular Season at Ohio State This Weekend

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Penn State Nittany Lions look to gain momentum heading into the Big Ten playoffs as they conclude the regular season against Ohio State this weekend in Columbus.

FOLLOW THE ACTION
Dates: Friday, March 1 | Saturday, March 2
Place: Columbus, Ohio
Time: 6 p.m. | 5 p.m.
TV: Friday: B1G Network | Saturday: N/A
Streaming Video: Friday | Saturday
Listen: Friday | Saturday
Live Statistics: Live Stats
Game Notes: Penn State

THIS WEEK'S MATCHUP

  • This weekend marks the 50th and 51st meetings all-time between Penn State and Ohio State with the Buckeyes being the second most common opponent all-time for the Nittany Lions behind Wisconsin.
  • Ohio State holds the 25-20-4 edge, but were swept by the Nittany Lions in a pair of 4-3 games at the end of January in Hockey Valley. OSU holds the slim 10-6-2 mark all-time in Columbus.
  • Regardless of the outcome this weekend, even with a Buckeye sweep, Penn State will finish sixth in the Big Ten standings and Ohio State will finish seventh as the Nittany Lions would control the third tiebreaker which is fewest Big Ten regulation losses. The Nittany Lions will head to either Minnesota or Michigan next weekend for the best-of-three quarterfinals pending the outcome of that series this weekend.
  • Most of the players on these two teams are no strangers to one another as they have squared off 16 times over the last 28 months meeting seven times each of the past two seasons paired with the two games back in January. Those last 16 games have nearly been split identically with the Buckeyes holding the slim 8-7-1 edge including the 6-4-0 mark in Columbus.
  • The sweep for Penn State back in January was the first-ever for the Nittany Lions against Ohio State and the first for the Nittany Lions in Big Ten play since a road sweep at Wisconsin on October 28-29, 2022.
  • Excluding empty net goals, 12 of the last 14 meetings between the Nittany Lions and Buckeyes have been one goal contests, so expect some competitive action at The Schott this weekend.
  • Senior Jimmy Dowd Jr. paces all Nittany Lions with 13 points on three goals and 10 assists in 18 career games against the Buckeyes. The 13 points are 21.3 percent of his career scoring.
  • Junior Ryan Kirwan has added three goals and five assists in 14 games against Ohio State in his career while freshman Aiden Fink tallied three goals and one assist for four points in the series sweep back in January.
  • Senior goaltender Liam Souliere has his most career starts against Ohio State with 13 posting a 6-6-1 record with a 2.74 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage. Souliere posted a career-high and program-best 55 saves in a 2-1 overtime victory in game two of the Big Ten Quarterfinals in Columbus last March.

SCOUTING OHIO STATE

  • Ohio State enters the weekend 12-16-4 on the year and 4-16-2 in Big Ten play, but have won three of its last four games against the top two teams in the conference with a sweep against Wisconsin two weeks ago and a win at Munn Ice Arena against Michigan State last Friday.
  • The Buckeyes are paced on offense by sophomore Stephen Halliday with 32 points on 10 goals and a team-high 22 assists. Halliday has registered at least one point in 11 of his last 15 games. Halliday paced the Buckeyes last season with 41 points, 10 of which came in seven games against Penn State.
  • Scooter Brickey leads Ohio State with 11 goals and is second with 24 points. Brickey has five powerplay tallies to tie Patrick Guzzo for the team lead in that category.
  • Ohio State ranks last in the Big Ten averaging just 2.75 goals per game and are only ahead of Penn State in goals allowed at 3.41 per game. The Buckeyes also rank last in the Big Ten in shot percentage (.080) and faceoff percentage (.477)
  • The Buckeyes also have the worst penalty kill in the Big Ten at 72.7 percent (80-for-110) ranking only ahead of Stonehill and RPI nationally. The 30 powerplay tallies allowed by Ohio State this season are the most in the Big Ten and tied for the ninth most in the nation.
  • On the other side Ohio State is 24-for-113 (21.2 percent) on the man-advantage this season to rank fourth in the Big Ten and 25th nationally.
  • Between the pipes for the Buckeyes this season has been UConn transfer Logan Terness who has started 23 of the 32 games this season posting a 9-10-3 record with a 3.25 goals-against average and a .899 save percentage. However, dating back to the series in Hockey Valley where Kristoffer Eberly started both games, the pair has split the last three series with Terness getting the nod on night one and Eberly in the finale. Eberly has a 3-6-1 record with a 3.06 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage in 12 games this season.

PACKING THE PEG

  • Once again Penn State leads the nation with a 110.7 attendance capacity percentage with 15 of its 19 home games this season reaching more than 6,000 patrons in the 5,704-seat Pegula Ice Arena.
  • The Nittany Lions have averaged 6,314 fans per home game this season, the seventh highest attendance in the nation, including a Pegula Ice Arena record of 6,578 on January 27 against Ohio State. It marked the second-straight season that Penn State has set an attendance record during its annual Wear White game.
  • Penn State saw the second largest crowd in building history two weeks ago during a 4-2 victory over No. 14 Michigan as 6,571 fans filed into Pegula.
  • This past Saturday was the third largest crowd in Pegula Ice Arena history with 6,569 fans attending.
  • Along with the top three attended games in program history, six of the top-10 attended games all-time have come this season.
  • The 6,314 average and 110.7 capacity percentage are both single-season records at Pegula Ice Arena.

MONKEY OFF THE BACK

  • Junior Ryan Kirwan got the monkey off his back last Saturday in the third period when he lit the lamp to tie the game at 2-2. The goal snapped an 11-game goalless drought dating back to his hat-trick against Army on January 6. It was also his first goal against a Big Ten team in 14 games.
  • Kirwan's 13 goals and 13 assists for 26 points mirror his freshman season stat line tying his career-best in each category.
  • The overtime loss last Saturday marked just the third game the Nittany Lions have lost all-time when Kirwan scores a goal, snapping a streak of 17-straight wins in such games. Penn State is now 24-3-0 when Kirwan scores.

CLASSY FRESHMEN

  • Penn State's five-member freshman class paces the Nittany Lions with 35 goals accounting for 34 percent of goal scoring this season. The 35 goals scored by the rookies are the most a freshman class has accounted for since the 2016-17 season when PSU's 11-member class contributed 64 goals and 157 points.
  • The 85 points registered by the freshmen this season are just two shy of the 87 contributed by the now-junior class back in 2021-22, which are the most a freshmen class has collected since the 2016-17 season.
  • Aiden Fink leads the team with 33 points on 15 goals and 18 assists in 32 games this season. His 33 points and 15 goals both pace the Big Ten for freshmen.
  • Fink has also set the Penn State single-season record for powerplay tallies with eight to his credit this season while his 33 points are the third-most by a freshman in a single-season in Penn State history while his 15 goals place him fifth.
  • Matt DiMarsico is tied with Fink for the team lead in assists with 18 while adding six goals for 24 points to rank fourth on the team. His 24 points are good for the 10th most by a Nittany Lion freshman all-time while the 18 assists rank third.
  • Only once in the 12-year NCAA history of Penn State Hockey has a pair of rookies led the Nittany Lions in scoring and that was all that way back during the inaugural season in 2012-13 when Casey Bailey (14-13--27) and David Glen (16-9--25) paced the offense.
  • Reese Laubach has added 10 goals with nine assists for 19 points. His 10 goals are tied for the 10th most by a Penn State rookie as he and Fink are two of just 11 Nittany Lion freshmen to reach double-digit goals in their rookie seasons.
  • With Fink and Laubach reaching double-digit goals it marks the fourth time Penn State has seen multiple freshmen in the same season accomplish that feat, however, the Nittany Lions have never had three freshmen hit double-digit goals.

NEXT UP

  • Penn State will be on the road for the best-of-three Big Ten quarterfinals at either Michigan or Minnesota pending the outcome of the series this weekend between the Gophers and Wolverines.

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.