Penn State men’s hockey snapped a four-game losing streak in conference play and began a two-game conference winning streak after sweeping a weekend set against Wisconsin at Pegula Ice Arena.
It was a fantastic weekend for the Nittany Lions (14-12-0, 5-11-0), finishing its season series against the Badgers (8-15-3, 5-10-1), with a 3-1 record and out-scoring Wisconsin 11-3 in the two games.
On Friday, Penn State held the Badgers scoreless into the third period, storming out to a 2-0 lead after the first period and a 4-0 lead after the second. Wisconsin would score a power play goal in the third period, but the Nittany Lions would allow no more, going on to win, 4-1.
Connor McMenamin and Ryan Kirwin each scored two goals in the win and Kevin Wall led the Nittany Lions with two assists. The three led the team in points with two on the night.
In goal, sophomore Liam Souliere improved to 4-2 on the season, stopping a season-high 40 shots and allowing just one goal for his second-straight start. Souliere hadn’t started for the Nittany Lions since a 4-1 win over St. Thomas (MN) on Nov. 24, 2021.
Saturday’s game took a period for both teams to warm up, but Penn State answered the call with three goals in the second period, including another two from Kirwan, to take a 3-0 lead going into the third.
Despite Wisconsin cutting the lead to 3-2 after two Carson Bantle goals within the first three minutes of the period, the Nittany Lions closed out the game for good with four unanswered goals to finish things off.
Ben Schoen got the scoring retaliation started with a power play goal just over 5 minutes into the period and Danny Dzhaniyev scored just 45 seconds later.
Schoen scored two in the period and Connor MacEachern lit the lamp on Penn State’s second power play goal of the period as the Nittany Lions won, 7-2.
Jimmy O’Dowd led the Nittany Lions with three assists and Ben Copeland and Wall were just behind with two on the night.
Kirwan’s four goals on the weekend brought his season total to nine as the freshman crossed the 20-point mark on the season. Wall’s four assists gave him double-digit assist totals for the second-straight year for Penn State.
The Nittany Lions will be home this Friday and Saturday to face Ohio State, whom they lost both games to in Columbus earlier this season.
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