Following a goal, senior forward Tate Singleton (13) celebrates with freshman forward Stephen Halliday (19) during No. 12 Ohio State’s (13-7-1, 6-5-0) 5-0 win over No. 14 Michigan State (12-10-1, 6-6-1) in Columbus on Jan. 7. Credit: Zachary Rilley | Photo Editor
No. 10 Ohio State was seemingly headed for disappointment on senior night as No. 4 Michigan led by two goals in the second period.
However, senior forward Tate Singleton’s two-goal performance led the Buckeyes back to a 3-3 tie and eventual shootout victory on Thursday.
The Buckeyes (17-11-3, 10-9-2 Big Ten) pulled out a game-tying comeback against the Wolverines (20-9-2, 12-8-1 Big Ten) after being down 3-1 about seven minutes into the second period, getting goals from Singleton and senior forward Matt Cassidy to force overtime.
After a scoreless overtime cemented the game as a tie, fifth-year forward Jake Wise scored the only goal in shootouts, with sophomore goalie Jakub Dobeš saving all three Michigan attempts to win the additional conference point.
Head coach Steve Rohlik was proud of the team’s effort and happy the seniors were sent off on a good note on their final regular season home game.
“If you can’t walk out of there and be excited about being a part of something like that, then something’s wrong,” Rohlik said. “So, I was just really proud of our group. Again, proud of our seniors. They deserve something like that.”
Ohio State had an opportunity to get on the board early after three first-period Michigan penalties gave the Buckeyes seven minutes of power-play hockey. However, they were unable to crack the scoreboard.
Instead, Michigan drew first blood courtesy of freshman forward Adam Fantilli’s conference-leading 19th goal on the campaign to make it 1-0.
The early lead wouldn’t last long, with Singleton scoring his first goal 28 seconds later to tie the game 1-1.
The Wolverines roared back early in the second period, getting goals from freshmen defenseman Luca Fantilli and forward Jackson Hallum to give Michigan a 3-1 lead.
The Buckeyes wouldn’t give in, climbing back into the game with Cassidy’s goal 8:32 into the second period to make it 3-2 before Singleton tied the contest about five minutes into the final period.
Rohlik liked what he saw from the Buckeye offense, attributing success to work ethic and sticking to the game plan.
“For the most part, I thought we were relentless,” Rohlik said. “We talked a lot about that. You know, [with a] skilled team like that, you’ve got to take away time and space. If you stay relentless and stay on top of the puck, like we did tonight, you’re going to get some chances. And then we just kept putting pucks on the net.”
Ohio State and Michigan’s typically strong power-play conversion units faltered, with the teams combining to go 0-9 on the evening.
Junior goalie Erik Portillo had 37 saves on the night for Michigan. Dobeš had 14, with three coming up clutch in the shootout period.
“[Dobeš] is such a competitor,” Rohlik said. “All he wants to do is go out there and compete and help the guys win every night. Sometimes it doesn’t go perfect all the time, but I said there’s never going to be a perfect game, and you just go and be the best you can be.”
The Buckeyes outshot the Wolverines by a wide margin, 40-17. Singleton said it’s a testament to the team’s offensive dominance on the night.
“We outplayed them, honestly, all night,” Singleton said. “I think we shot pucks when we needed to shoot pucks, and I thought we were all over them. And I think if we bring that same energy and same motivation, we’re going to end up on the right side of the score again.”
Ohio State is off Friday as it travels to Cleveland to face Michigan again on Saturday at FirstEnergy Stadium in the outdoor Faceoff on the Lake game. Puck drop is scheduled for 4 p.m. with Big Ten Network televising.
