Ohio State men’s hockey celebrates a goal during their 4-3 win over Connecticut in overtime. Credit: Gabe Haferman | Assistant Photo Editor
Halfway through the second period, it did not look good for the Buckeyes, as they had mustered just nine shots and were without a goal. But, it didn’t stay that way.
Ohio State’s men’s hockey team (5-2-0), (2-1-0 Big Ten) left No. 16 Penn State (6-2-0), (0-1-0 Big Ten) shell shocked Friday, scoring five goals in just over nine minutes to take the series opener 5-2.
Head coach Steve Rohlik made sure to emphasize the importance of his team’s win while also highlighting the importance of staying locked in for the series finale.
“It’s a good win against a really good hockey team,” Rohlik said. “One day at a time, one game at a time, that’s how I’ve always looked at it. In this league, that’s the way you’ve got to approach it.”
Despite falling behind early, Ohio State never quit en route to the come-from-behind victory. Rohlik praised his team’s desire to get better during the week, saying that’s what allows them to be successful on the ice during the weekend.
“Work ethic, resilience and habits. I think that’s what we do Monday through Thursday,” Rohlik said. “These guys put the time in. I don’t have to ask them too much. They show up and to me, the weekend should be easier than what we go through during the week and that’s what we’ve been doing. It’s a credit to these guys in the room.”
After five minutes, the Buckeyes nearly opened the scoring with a shorthanded goal for the second consecutive game, as freshman forward Cam Thiesing was denied on the breakaway as Ohio State attempted to kill off junior forward Matt Cassidy’s tripping penalty.
The Buckeyes held Penn State, the country’s leaders in shots per game, without a shot for the first 8:10 of the game. The Nittany Lions’ first shot was a blue-line blast by freshman defenseman Simon Mack.
Junior forward Kevin Wall, who entered the game tied for the Big Ten lead in goals, tallied his seventh of the season, giving the Nittany Lions a 1-0 lead at the 11:05 mark.
Wall was set up brilliantly thanks to a great backhand, no-look feed from senior forward Ben Copeland. The assist was Copeland’s fifth of the season and 38th of his collegiate career.
Copeland made yet another beautiful pass to set up Wall with 1:51 remaining in the opening period, but freshman goaltender Jakub Dobeš did enough to put Wall off and force his shot into the near post.
The Buckeyes nearly squared things up less than a minute later, but senior forward Quinn Preston’s shot from the slot hit the crossbar, keeping Ohio State scoreless.
After the initial 20 minutes, Penn State led by one in both goals and shots, outshooting the Buckeyes 9-8 in the first period.
Wall had his third huge scoring chance of the game with 13:20 remaining in the second period. His one-time effort from the left faceoff circle was kept out thanks to a great save from Dobeš, who sprawled across the crease and denied Wall his second goal of the game.
After it was Penn State’s turn in the opening period, it was time for Ohio State to sleep-walk through the beginning of a period in the second, as it failed to register a shot in the first 13 minutes. Penn State accumulated nine shots during the same time.
Freshman defenseman Mason Lohrei found junior forward Kamil Sadlocha in the front of the net who deflected the pass past Penn State’s sophomore netminder Liam Souliere to tie things up with less than four minutes remaining in the second period.
The goal was the first of the season for the Carpentersville, Illinois, native and his sixth as a Buckeye. Freshman forward Georgii Merkulov and Lohrei grabbed assists on the play, No. 3 and 4 of the campaign respectively.
With 12.7 seconds remaining in the period, Sadlocha struck again. This time, he tipped a blue line shot attempt from freshman defenseman Cole McWard into the back of the net.
Sadlocha’s second goal gave him the first multi-goal game of his collegiate career. The redshirt junior was happy to score the goals but directed all credit to the defenseman who put the puck on his stick.
“Feels great,” Sadlocha said. “Credit to Mason and Cole McWard for setting those up. I just got lucky tips.”
Sadlocha said that deflecting pucks on goal is something the team works on every day in practice, and he was just able to finally make good on their efforts in a game.
“We work on that Monday through Thursday every week,” Sadlocha said. “It’s a no-brainer, just go to the net and our D will find our sticks. One was where Mason came down and I showed my stick to him and the other one I just tipped it in.”
After 40 minutes, the Buckeyes trailed the Nittany Lions 21-13 in the shot department, but held the lead where it matters — the scoreboard.
Senior forward Jake Wise gave Ohio State its third unanswered goal with less than 3:47 in the final period, deflecting fifth-year defenseman Grant Gabriele’s effort past Souliere for his second goal as a Buckeye.
Along with Gabriele, junior forward Mark Cheremeta grabbed an assist on the play, the third of the season for the Parkland, Florida, native. The helper gave Cheremeta a point in his third consecutive game, spanning back to the series opener against Michigan State Oct. 29.
The Buckeyes added a fourth shortly after Wise’s goal, when Jaedon Leslie fired home from the right side. The play gave Leslie a goal in consecutive contests, following his first of the year in the 5-1 win over the Spartans Oct. 30.
Lohrei added to his team-lead in assists on the goal, tallying his firth of the campaign. Sophomore forward Patrick Guzzo also assisted the goal, his third.
Thirty three seconds after Leslie gave the Buckeyes a three-goal lead, senior forward Gustaf Westlund made it four, a power play goal from just in front of the Nittany Lions’ net. Westlund’s goal was his third of the season and Ohio State’s fifth goal in 9:04.
Junior forward Tate Singleton and sophomore forward Travis Treloar added helpers on their captain’s goal. The third of the season for Singleton and second for Treloar.
Fourteen different Buckeyes tallied a point in the match, by far a season high. Lohrei and Sadlocha were the only members of the team with multiple.
Ohio State came into the contest converting on just 18 percent of its man advantage opportunities, something Rohlik has voiced his displeasure with countless times. Hee was elated to see his team cash in on the fruits of their labor.
“It’s huge. Special teams are the difference,” Rohlik said. “It’s not for lack of work ethic, not for lack of time we’ve put into the power play. [assistant coach J.B. Bittner] has done a hell of a job. Eventually you’re going to break through, and it was nice to see us score a big one tonight.”
Junior forward Connor MacEachern added a consolation goal for the Nittany Lions on the power play with 11:06 to make the score 5-2. MacEachern’s goal was his fifth of the season and gave him eight points on the year.
Despite being outshot 35-27, the Buckeyes only allowed two goals, the fourth consecutive game they’ve held their opponent to two or fewer. Rohlik continued to applaud his team’s defensive efforts postgame.
“It’s five-man connected, five-man defense and your goaltender’s playing well,” Rohlik said. “We let [Dobeš] out to dry a couple times there, especially late, when I think the score was 5-1 or 5-2. Not the way we want to play, but for the most part, when you play connected and all of you dig in together defensively, you start limiting teams and that’s how we’re gonna play.”
No matter how exciting a win is, Rohlik said he always preaches the importance of keeping a cool head and improving for the next task at hand.
“We just got to keep plugging away,” Rohlik said. “I’m looking forward to tomorrow. We got to get better in every facet because we know Penn State’s going to be better.”
The Buckeyes will take on the Nittany Lions again Saturday at 5 p.m. inside Value City Arena.
