A tough and disappointing regular season for Penn State hockey was quickly forgotten about as the Nittany Lions advanced to its seventh-straight Big Ten Tournament semifinal, upsetting No. 12 Ohio State over the weekend.
Penn State and Ohio State split the first two games on Friday and Saturday, forcing a deciding third game on Sunday and the Nittany Lions, on the road in a tough Columbus environment, pulled out the win.
However, things didn’t start so hot after the Buckeyes took the opening game, 4-3, jumping out to a 2-0 lead with two goals in the second period.
Penn State, thanks to Tyler Paquette and Connor McMenamin, cut the lead to 3-2 within the first 10 minutes of the third period.
Unfortunately for the Nittany Lions, Georgii Merkulov netted his second goal of the game at the 16:52 mark of the third to put Ohio State up 4-2.
Despite a quick answer from Kenny Johnson just 18 seconds later to make it 4-3 Buckeyes, Penn State couldn’t muster a goal in the final 2:50 of the game to lose, 4-3.
Saturday fared differently for the Nittany Lions, who scored each of their three goals within the final three minutes of each period. Dylan Lugris opened the game for Penn State with an even-strength goal at the 19:30.2 mark of the first period.
Ohio State answered on the power play at the 13:55 mark of the second, a Michael Gildon equalizer, but as was mentioned previously, those last three minutes were crucial for the Nittany Lions.
Kevin Wall got Penn State back in front, 2-1, at the 17:12 mark of the second, giving Penn State a lead going into the third period.
That lead lasted until the 9:33 mark when Ohio State’s Cole McWard tied things up, but the late-game Nittany Lions, led by Ryan Kirwin, evened the series up as his even-strength goal at the 17:19 mark put Penn State up for good as it took Game 2, 3-2.
Kirwan picked up where he left off in Game 3, drawing first blood with a goal at the 13:30 mark of the second period to put Penn State up 1-0.
Ohio State’s Tate Singleton wasted no time to tie up the score before heading into the second period intermission. With the score knotted up at 1-1, it was anyone’s game.
Lugris, who already had one goal this weekend for Penn State, came up as the hero, scoring the game winner at the 13:07 mark of the third. Nittany Lions goaltender Liam Souliere stood on his head in the third, stopping all 12 Buckeye shots as Penn State won, 2-1, advancing to the semis.
The Nittany Lions will take on No. 2 Minnesota on Saturday at 9 PM EST.
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