MHKY: Ohio State Handles Penn State in Game 2

Audio/Story posted January 22, 2017 in CommRadio, Sports by Zach Green

The No. 1 Penn State Nittany Lions (16-3-2) fell to the No. 11 Ohio State Buckeyes (12-4-6) 6-3 on Saturday night in front of a raucous crowd at Pegula Ice Arena.

Penn State head coach Guy Gadowsky specifically mentioned the crowd in his post-game press conference.

“It’s too bad we wasted a heck of a crowd. Tremendous atmosphere all weekend,” Gadowsky said.

It did not take long for the Nittany Lions to get on the board as, only 2:38 in to the first period, David Thompson fired a shot past Christian Frey. Andrew Sturtz had a big screen in front of the net and it is not likely that Frey saw it. This was a big goal for the Nittany Lions as Frey made 56 saves the night before, and they needed to score early to raise their confidence.

The Buckeyes, however, would tie it up midway through the first. John Wiitala intercepted an errant pass and roofed a backhander past Jones after an excellent deke. That wouldn’t be all for Ohio State, as Mason Jobst would beat Jones five-hole on the power play with 2 minutes remaining in the first period.

It only took Ohio State 18 seconds to score in the second period. Dakota Joshua, who was waiting near center ice for an opportunity, found one and scored on a breakaway, extending the Buckeye lead to 3-1. Penn State responded by way of Kris Myllari firing a wrist shot past Frey six minutes later.

With 24 seconds remaining in the period, Andrew Sturtz threw a puck on net from the boards at the goal line which took a weird deflection off Frey and ended up in the net. With that, the game was tied at 3 heading into the all-important third period.

Just like in the second, the Buckeyes would get an early goal. Mathew Weis was left all alone in front and his shot trickled past Jones. Less than a minute later, Luke Stork would double their lead, as Jones was unable to stop a wrist shot high to his glove hand side.

The Ohio State defense would handle it from there, severely limiting Penn State’s attack. Christian Lampasso would add another late goal for good measure, pushing the lead to three goals. Following the game, an Ohio State player tossed a broom out onto the ice, even though they did not sweep the Nittany Lions.

Gadowsky did not think that the effort was a problem, but rather that they weren’t paying attention to what was happening on the ice. He also commented saying that they were constantly looking for the homerun play.

“We were looking for big plays early instead of doing what we do,” Gadowsky said.

Penn State next heads out to Minnesota to take on the No. 7 Gophers.

 

Zach Green is a junior majoring in broadcast journalism. He can be reached by email at zag5035@psu.edu.