Men's Hockey Downs No. 9/8 Ohio State, 3-2, in Overtime ThrillerMen's Hockey Downs No. 9/8 Ohio State, 3-2, in Overtime Thriller

Men's Hockey Downs No. 9/8 Ohio State, 3-2, in Overtime Thriller

Sophomore Reese Laubach (San Jose, Calif.) potted the golden goal 3:26 into overtime as Penn State defeated No. 9/8 Ohio State, 3-2, to win the weekend series in Big Ten Conference action from Pegula Ice Arena on Saturday evening.

Box Score

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Sophomore Reese Laubach (San Jose, Calif.) potted the golden goal 3:26 into overtime as Penn State defeated No. 9/8 Ohio State, 3-2, to win the weekend series in Big Ten Conference action from Pegula Ice Arena on Saturday evening.

The Nittany Lions secured 4-of-6 points this weekend with a shootout win and overtime win and are now unbeaten in eight of their last nine games moving to 11-10-3 on the year and 2-9-3-1-1-2 in league play while the Buckeyes fall to 15-7-2 overall and 8-5-1-2-2-0 in conference action.

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HOW IT HAPPENED

  • After a scoreless first period, The Nittany Lions opened the scoring early in the middle stanza with a powerplay tally as senior Danny Dzhaniyev (Brooklyn, N.Y.) kept the puck on the ice from the slot and it snuck through the five-hole of Buckeye net-minder Logan Terness for the 1-0 edge at the 2:59 mark.
  • Ohio State tied the contest with a man-advantage tally of its own midway through the third period as Riley Thompson redirected a shot from the point through Penn State junior goaltender Arsenii Sergeev (Yaroslavl, Russia) for the 1-1 score at the 8:36 mark.
  • Freshman Nic DeGraves (Edmonton, Alberta) sent Hockey Valley into a frenzy as he roofed a rebound after classmate JJ Wiebusch’s (Verona, Wis.) initial shot was turned aside giving Penn State the 2-1 lead with just 3:30 remaining in regulation.
  • The tides turned from last night as with the goalie pulled and extra-attacker on it was the Buckeyes finding the equalizer as Patrick Guzzo banged in a rebound out the far post with just 21 ticks remaining in the contest sending the game to overtime for the second straight night.
  • Penn State didn’t wait around for the shootout tonight as senior Ben Schoen (Maumee, Ohio) poked the puck away at the defensive blueline and raced in on a 2-on-0 rush feathering a pass across the slot to Laubach and he one-timed a shot into the back of the net for the 3-2 overtime victory.

GOALTENDING

Sergeev improves to 8-5-3 on the year after stopping 24-of-26 shots in the victory while Terness drops to 5-6-1 overall after making 27 saves in the loss.

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NOTES

  • Penn State held the slim 30-26 advantage in shots on goal while going 1-for-3 on the man-advantage. Ohio State went 1-for-4 on the powerplay.
  • Saturday night’s attendance of 6,604 is a new Pegula Ice Arena record surpassing the 6,578 who attended last year’s Wear White game against these same Buckeyes.
  • The win is the 393rd for head coach Guy Gadowsky breaking a tie with longtime North Dakota Bench Boss John “Gino” Gasparini for 32nd on the all-time win list as he continues to cash career win No. 400.
  • The overtime win is the second of the season for the Nittany Lions and the first on home ice since a 3-2 victory over St. Thomas on October 21, 2022.
  • The victory for Penn State also marks the first ranked win of the season and the first against a top-10 opponent since a 6-3 victory over No. 7 Minnesota on December 2, 2023.
  • After being held off the scoresheet over his first 20 collegiate games, DeGraves is now riding a career-best four-game point streak following the first collegiate goal of his career.
  • With one goal and one assist, Laubach secures his second-straight multi-point effort and his fifth of the season and the 10th of his career.
  • Senior Simon Mack (Brockville, Ontario) notched the secondary assist on Dzhaniyev’s powerplay tally giving him 53 points for his career, breaking a tie with Vince Pedrie for eighth on the all-time Nittany Lion scoring list for defensemen while his 44 assists are now good for sixth.
  • With one goal and one assist each, Dzhaniyev and Dowiak secure multi-point games five and two of the season and 21 and three for their careers, respectively.
  • Wiebusch now has points in three-straight games, one shy of his career-high established earlier this season.

NEXT UP

Penn State hits the road for the first of back-to-back weekends away from Hockey Valley with a trip to Ann Arbor to battle the No. 10 Michigan Wolverines next Friday and Saturday evening.

For more information on the 2024-25 season, visit the men's hockey page at GoPSUsports.com or call 1-800-NITTANY Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.