Special Teams Power No. 4 Men's Hockey to Series Sweep at No. 17 Ohio State Following 4-3 WinSpecial Teams Power No. 4 Men's Hockey to Series Sweep at No. 17 Ohio State Following 4-3 Win

Special Teams Power No. 4 Men's Hockey to Series Sweep at No. 17 Ohio State Following 4-3 Win

The Nittany Lions used three powerplay tallies and timely penalty kills to complete the series sweep over No. 17 Ohio State on the road

Box Score

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The fourth-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions scored three powerplay goals en route to a 4-3 victory and series sweep over No. 17 Ohio State in Big Ten Conference action at Value City Arena on Friday night.

The Nittany Lions run their winning streak to seven games and improve to 9-1-0 overall and 2-0-0 in conference action following the sweep while Ohio State drops to 4-4-0 on the year and 0-2-0 in league play with the loss.

This marks just the third sweep for Penn State over the Buckeyes all-time and is just the second-ever in Columbus after the Nittany Lions won all four games during the 2023-24 season.

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • Penn State opened the scoring with an early powerplay tally as freshman Jackson Smith (Calgary, Alberta) ripped a one-timer off the back bar and out after a feed from junior Reese Laubach (San Jose, Calif.) for the 1-0 edge at 4:32 of the first period.
  • The Nittany Lions extended the lead less than two minutes later with another man-advantage score as sophomore JJ Wiebusch (Verona, Wis.) out waited a defender before feathering a cross-crease pass to junior Matt DiMarsico (Wexford, Pa.) at the far post for the 2-0 margin at 6:20 of the first period.
  • A costly neutral zone turnover midway through the opening frame sprung Ohio State on a 2-on-0 rush and Adam Eisele finished high over the glove of PSU freshman goaltender Josh Fleming (Montreal, Quebec) for the 2-1 score at the 10:29 mark.
  • The Buckeyes then evened the score late in the first period with a powerplay tally of their own as Felix Caron found the back of the net on a one-timer from the far dot for the 2-2 score at the 16:36 mark.
  • Penn State scored its third powerplay goal of the contest to regain the lead late in the middle stanza as DiMarsico returned the favor to find Wiebusch with a yawning net and he deposited his national leading 11th goal of the season for the 3-2 advantage at the 16:29 mark.
  • The visitors pushed the lead back to a pair with under a minute to go as junior captain Dane Dowiak (Pittsburgh, Pa.) had his initial shot blocked but the puck came right back to him and he laced a wicked wrister over the glove of Buckeye freshman goaltender Sam Hillebrandt for the 4-2 lead with just 57.6 seconds remaining in the second period.
  • William Smith added a late extra attacker goal with just 14 ticks remaining to account for the final score.

GOALTENDING

Fleming remains unbeaten improving to 4-0-0 on the year following a 29-save effort while Hillebrandt falls to 0-1-0 on the season after stopping 30 shots in his collegiate debut.

NOTES

  • Penn State held the slim 34-32 edge in shots on goal while going 3-for-5 on the man-advantage in the game. The Nittany Lions have now scored at least one man-advantage goal in all 10 games this season. The Buckeyes went 1-for-5 on the powerplay.
  • The three powerplay goals for the Nittany Lions are the most in a game since January 24, 2024 also against the Ohio State Buckeyes, a 4-3 Nittany Lion victory.
  • Freshman Gavin McKenna (Whitehorse, Yukon) now has points in four-straight games, a new career-long, after collecting his fifth multi-point effort with a pair of assists while his 13 points continue to pace all first-year players nationally.
  • Wiebusch the nation’s leading goal scorer notched his 11th of the season and has now scored in five-straight games, tying his career-long streak from last season. The goal was the 11th powerplay goal of his career moving him into a tie with Dylan Richard ‘17 for eighth on the Penn State career PPG’s list. It was also his sixth man-advantage marker of the season moving him into the national lead. Wiebusch added an assist for his sixth multi-point game of the season and the 14th of his career.
  • Wiebusch is now tied with classmate Charlie Cerrato (Fallston, Md.) for the national lead in points with 18 through the first 10 games of the season.
  • With one goal and one assist, DiMarsico collects his fourth multi-point effort of the season and the 16th of his career. His eight goals are now good for second in the Big Ten and tied for second nationally behind Wiebusch.
  • Excluding empty net goals 19 of the last 22 games between these two programs have been one-goal contests.
  • Penn State is now 3-0-0 all-time in games played on Halloween.

NEXT UP

Penn State concludes its four-game road swing with a trip to East Lansing to battle the No. 1 Michigan State Spartans next Friday and Saturday.

For more information on the 2025-26 season, visit the men's hockey page at GoPSUsports.com or call 1-800-NITTANY Monday-Friday from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.