Ohio State men’s ice hockey’s fifth-year defenseman Scooter Brickey looking for a pass against a Wisconsin defender in Friday’s contest at Value City Arena at the Schottenstein Center. The Buckeyes won 3-2 in overtime. Credit: Lantern Photographers
The Buckeyes shocked the collegiate hockey world Friday night when they defeated the No. 4 Badgers in an overtime thriller.
But 24 hours later, they did it again. This time no extra time was needed.
Ohio State (11-15-4, 3-15-2 Big Ten) earned its first series sweep in Big Ten play this season as it handled the No. 4 Wisconsin Badgers (22-8-2, 13-6-1 Big Ten) 3-1 Saturday evening in Value City Arena at the Schottenstein Center.
The Buckeyes came into the weekend only winning one conference game in 18 tries, but they came out victorious twice against the highest-ranked team in the Big Ten.
Head coach Steve Rohlik said he wanted to see his team step up with postseason play around the corner and they did. Rohlik said he is proud once again of how they responded, especially against one of the top teams in the nation.
“It was playoff time for us, we kept knocking on the door,” Rohlik said. “Another good opportunity for us to continue to get better, to get the two wins. I am just happy for these guys, I feel really good for our group.”
Junior forward Cam Thiesing said the win means a lot for the team. He said they’ve waited all season long to get a result like this weekend.
“It is huge, we have been itching for something like this all year long, we came together as a team,” Thiesing said. “I could not even describe the stuff we went through this week.”
Wisconsin seemed to have opened up the scoring just six minutes into the first period with a rebound goal from freshman forward William Whitelaw. However, a challenge from Rohlik ruled the shot no good due to the play being offsides.
Ohio State finished the period on fire with two goals from two players within 48 seconds.
The first came from a passing play in the offensive zone that led to a cross-crease pass by senior forward Joe Dunlap to the goalscorer, Thiesing.
Thiesing’s goal was followed up immediately by sophomore forward Davis Burnside, who found the puck at the right hash mark and shot it past senior goaltender Kyle McClellan to take a 2-0 lead into the first intermission.
Wisconsin cut the Buckeye lead in half midway through the second period with a power-play goal from senior forward David Silye. Freshman defenseman Will Smith got called for a boarding penalty that sent the Badgers on the power play.
Ohio State’s streak of consecutive penalties killed ended at nine with the goal by the Badgers.
It did not take long for the Buckeyes to reclaim their two-goal lead. Two minutes after the Badgers’ first goal, Dunlap recorded his second point of the night off a rebound that bounced directly onto his stick.
Senior defenseman Scooter Brickey picked up the lone assist on the goal by Dunlap, giving Brickey his fourth assist of the weekend.
It seemed like Ohio State extended its lead to three goals from another Joe Dunlap goal just four minutes into the third period, but the goal was called back due to an illegal hand pass by junior forward Stephen Halliday as the score remained 3-1.
The Buckeyes shut the Badgers down to end the game, which Rohlik said was their focus going into the third.
“I did not want to sit back,” Rohlik said.“I want to keep playing hard, keep possessing pucks and keep playing smart. “Make teams earn everything.”
Freshman goaltender Kristoffer Eberly earned his third career win with a 27-save performance.
Eberly appeared in his first game as a Buckeye against the Badgers Dec. 2, 2023, in which he conceded zero goals in the third period as he relieved junior goalie Reilly Herbst.
Rohlik said he has confidence in his goalies coming out of two remarkable performances from this series.
“Both goalies have been playing well, [Logan Terness] played well last night and [Eberly] played well tonight,” Rohlik said.
The Buckeyes are set to take on Michigan State in a weekend series beginning Friday in East Lansing, Michigan. The puck drops at 7 p.m. on Friday and 6 p.m. on Saturday.
Both games will stream live on the Big Ten Network.
