2/3/2023 other sports Edit

No. 9 Penn State heads to Columbus to face No. 7 Ohio State

Kathryn Brody • Happy Valley Insider

Staff Writer

I am a Journalism major at Pennsylvania State University and cover a few different Penn State teams.

No.9 Penn State travels to face No.7 Ohio State for its final regular season series against one another this season.

Penn State is currently 8-9-1 in the Big Ten and 18-9-1 overall; the Buckeyes are 9-7 in the Big Ten and 16-9-1 overall.

The Nittany Lions are coming off of a two-game loss against Michigan but are not worried about their ability to bounce back on track.

“I think that we're going into this weekend feeling like we're gonna get one to two wins for sure.” Xander Lamppa said.

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Penn State had a strong start to its season, then fell off after winter break. One thing that hasn't changed is their ability to get pucks in deep; they just have not been getting to the back of the net.

"Whenever we are not playing offense; it’s usually from a turnover either in the high offensive zone or in the neutral zone," Lamppa said. "We are still getting 50-plus shots a game, so if we play behind their defensemen, get the puck in deep, I think the bounces will eventually go our way."

It was announced on Monday that the Nittany Lions will be down a few key contributors, Ben Schoen, who has been ruled out for the remainder of the season, and Connor McMenamin, who is listed as day-to-day. In addition, Ryan Kirwan has yet to return to the lineup.

“He was the guy that could make something out of nothing, but luckily we’ve been using depth all year, and it's really unfortunate, but we can’t pout about it because that’s hockey, and we have to move on.” coach Guy Gadowsky said.

The three forwards are all in the top eight in points on the team, McMenamin in fourth, Schoen in seventh, and Kirwan in eighth. With these three out, Dylan Lugris, Alex Servagno and Carson Dyck will all have to step up into the lineup.

The Buckeyes are coming off of a bye week following a split series with an away series against Wisconsin in which they were shutout 4-0 in game one and went on to win the second game 2-0. Tate Singleton and Davis Burnside scored the lone goals of the weekend.

Ohio State traveled to State College in early December; the Nittany Lions won the first game 2-1 and lost the second game 4-3. With Penn States Jimmy Dowd Jr. and Kevin Wall, each with one goal and two assists on the weekend. Ohio States Cole McWard also had a goal and two assists in that series.

The last time the Nittany Lions traveled to Columbus was for the Big Ten tournament when Penn State won a three-game series 2-1 and advanced to the semifinals. The Nittany Lions look to end their losing streak and get their second and third wins of 2023 in Columbus.