The Ohio State men’s hockey team lines up for Carmen Ohio after a 2-1 loss to Penn State at the Schottenstein Center Saturday. Credit: Paige Kadar | For The Lantern

Penn State spoiled the Ohio State men’s ice hockey senior night to close out the 2023-24 regular season.

The Buckeyes’ (12-18-4, 4-18-2 Big Ten) season came to an end in an unfortunate sweep by the Penn State Nittany Lions (15-16-3, 7-14-3 Big Ten) as they fell 2-1 Saturday at Value City Arena at the Schottenstein Center.

Freshman forward Sam Deckhut opened the scoring for the Buckeyes as he roofed the puck over Penn State senior goaltender Liam Souliere’s shoulder. 

The Nittany Lions challenged the opening goal of yesterday’s contest and were successful, resulting in a major penalty for them that they were able to capitalize off of. Penn State, just like Friday, challenged the opening goal, but was unsuccessful this time around, resulting in the Buckeyes taking their first lead of the series.

After a long defensive-zone shift for the Buckeyes, senior forward Matt Cassidy was penalized for a tripping violation. Penn State went on and equalized the score from the power play 7:27 into the second period. The goal was scored by freshman forward Dane Dowiak. 

After a penalty on sophomore defenseman John Larkin, the Nittany Lions went back on the power play and were the team to break the tie as Dowiak scored his second power-play goal of the evening.

Head coach Steve Rohlik said the penalty kill was the difference in the game. 

“At the end of the day it is usually the special teams that tell the story,” Rohlik said. “Not how we wanted to end it as a team we have come a long way and I think we have played some really good hockey the past month and a half.”

The penalty kill has been a main weakness of the Buckeyes for the majority of their season. With the two goals by Penn State on the man advantage, they have given up a power-play goal in each of their last five games dating back to the Buckeyes’ win over Wisconsin Feb. 16.

Rohlik said the team wanted to win for the seniors going into the third and it was emotional seeing them leave home ice for the final time.

“The guys were talking and excited, they just wanted to go out and empty the tanks, and they did,” Rohlik said. “I just think it hits when it is done looking at these guys, and looking at some of the guys walking out to get a picture at the ice that hits home.” 

Ohio State pulled freshman goaltender Kristoffer Eberly with 2:18 remaining in the third period and attempted to spark a last-minute comeback. However, the extra skater could not turn as provider for the Buckeyes as their seniors left the home ice for the last time with a loss.

Senior forward Patrick Guzzo said the emotions were high following the matchup.

“It is unfortunate the way our regular season ended, it is emotional talking to some of the seniors that will never get to play here again,” Guzzo said. “I would not take anything for granted these past four years, the relationships I have made and memories I have made are unbelievable.”

Guzzo said the opportunity to be captain of the men’s hockey team was a dream of his.

“Being a kid from Michigan and being a captain for the Buckeyes, it is a dream come true,” Guzzo said. 

The Buckeyes open up their postseason Friday as they travel to Madison, Wisconsin, to take on the Badgers in a best-of-three series. The teams traded home-series sweeps in the regular season, most recently by the Buckeyes in Columbus. 

The three games will be played Friday, Saturday and, if needed, Sunday. Streaming information is yet to be released.