The Ohio State men’s ice hockey team was defeated by Penn State 3-2 in overtime Saturday. Credit: Courtesy of Ohio State Athletics
The weekend didn’t go as planned for Ohio State as it walked away with just two points from its weekend series against Penn State.
No. 3 Ohio State (15-7-2, 8-5-1 Big Ten) dropped a shootout in Friday’s opener to Penn State (10-10-3, 1-9-3 Big Ten) before it fell in overtime during Saturday’s contest in University Park, Pennsylvania.
Game 1
After a slow start in the first period, the Buckeyes struck first with a late goal by defenseman Nathan McBrayer, assisted by forward Sam Deckhut. Goaltender Kristoffer Eberly finished the period with nine saves to keep the Nittany Lions scoreless.
Both teams came out in the second period firing on all cylinders. Buckeyes forward Thomas Weis netted his first goal of the season immediately following a power play.
Five minutes later, forward James Hong notched a backhanded goal on Penn State goalie Arsenii Sergeev, extending the Buckeyes’ lead to three.
But a quick response from Penn State forward Aiden Fink put the Nittany Lions on the board with seven minutes remaining in the second period.
Then, a late goal from forward Matt DiMarsico brought Penn State within one to close out the period.
Two minutes into the third, a power-play goal by Penn State’s Dane Dowiak tied the score at four.
Ohio State quickly regained its lead thanks to a goal by Deckhut.
However, a minute later, the Nittany Lions answered back yet again. This time a goal from forward JJ Wiebusch, assisted by Nick Fascia.
Seven minutes later, as Penn State was on a power play, Fink put through his second goal of the night, which gave the Nittany Lions their first lead of the game.
Seconds after the end of an Ohio State power play, Buckeyes forward Patrick Guzzo netted the equalizer, leveling the score at five for the Buckeyes.
Just two minutes later, forward Riley Thompson lasered a shot past Sergeev to give Ohio State the edge over Penn State with six minutes remaining.
Just when it looked to be over, Penn State scored a miracle goal with 12 seconds left as forward Danny Dzhaniyev sent the game into overtime.
Neither team could break the stalemate in the five-minute extra period, sending the game into a shootout. Eberly had four saves to keep the Buckeyes level with Penn State.
Though the official score went into the record books as a 6-6 tie, the Nittany Lions picked up the extra point for the night as forward Dylan Lugris netted the only goal of the shootout.
Game 2
The first period of Game 2 saw no goals as Ohio State and Penn State went on the man advantage once during the 20 minutes of play.
Goaltender Logan Terness started in the net, making six saves to keep Penn State scoreless early.
Two minutes into the second period, Ohio State’s McBrayer committed a holding penalty, putting Penn State on the power-play goal, which resulted in a goal from Dowiak, his second of the series.
Nittany Lions defenseman Carter Schade’s third penalty of the night resulted in a Buckeyes power-play goal seven minutes into the period, which ended up in an Ohio State goal, scored by Riley Thompson, his second of the series.
But for the second straight night, Penn State tied the game late as forward Nicholas DeGraves’ goal, assisted by JJ Wiebusch, gave Penn State the lead with four minutes left in regulation.
But the Buckeyes then experienced a similar miracle to Penn State from the night before.
In the final seconds, the Buckeyes responded with an extra-attacker goal netted by Guzzo to send the game into overtime for the second straight night.
With a minute and a half remaining in Ohio State’s sixth overtime of the season, forward Reese Laubach gave the Nittany Lions the go-ahead goal in dramatic breakaway fashion.
The Buckeyes closed out the series with two points and will next face Michigan State Thursday at 7 p.m. in Columbus.
This story was updated at 10:21 a.m. Jan. 27 to change the cover image.
