A Buckeye huddle ahead of a game in the 2021-22 season inside the Schottenstein Center. Credit: Lantern File Photo
The Golden Gophers dominated the Buckeyes as Ohio State could not stop a pair of stars from Minnesota.
Ohio State (9-11-4 ,1-11-2 Big Ten) dropped both games against No. 10 Minnesota (14-6-4, 7-4-3-1 Big Ten) in Minneapolis.
The Golden Gophers were lifted by junior forward Rhett Pitlick and freshman defenseman Sam Rinzel.
Pitlick recorded a hat trick on Friday night, his first career hat trick of his collegiate career. Pitlick also scored in the Saturday night game, providing half of the Minnesota goals in this series.
Rinzel recorded five assists in the series as the defenseman connected with Pitlick on two of his four goals.
Pitlick and Rinzel have been one of the best duos in the Big Ten as of late, recording 21 points in the team’s last five games played.
Ohio State’s penalty proved to cost the Buckeyes again as Minnesota scored twice on the man advantage Friday night. As the Golden Gophers jumped out to a three-goal lead in the first, burying the Buckeyes early and earning a 5-2 win.
Saturday night was a tighter contest as neither team could get on the board in the first. However, the momentum changed in the favor of the Golden Gophers as they scored three goals in the second that proved to be enough to take home the series sweep with a 6-3 win.
Ohio State will look to put this series behind them as they take on the Penn State Nittany Lions Friday and Saturday. This will be a series between the bottom two teams in the Big Ten looking to turn both their seasons around.
