University Park, Pennsylvania – Junior's final goal Ryan Kirwan (DeWitt, N.Y.) forced the game into overtime, but Penn State suffered a frustrating 3-2 loss midway through overtime in a Big Ten Conference game Saturday night at Pegula Ice Arena.
The Nittany Lions earned themselves a point in the Big Ten standings but the overtime loss dropped them to 13-16-3 on the year and 5-14-3-0-1-2 in conference play, while the Badgers earned themselves two more points with the win to improve to 24-8-2 overall and 15-6-1-2-2-1 in Big Ten play.
How it happened
- Penn State got the lead late in the first period with a goal from a third-year player. Dylan Legris (Buffalo, NY) He skated on a classmate's rebound. Simon Mack's (Brockville, Ontario) The first shot was blocked at the 17:16 mark.
- The Badgers tied the score at 1-1 at the end of the second period when David Cillier redirected a shot pass from Daniel Raach inside the far post at 18:11.
- Wisconsin took its first lead of the game with a power-play score midway through the third period when Christian Fitzgerald picked up a corner over the glove of the Nittany Lion senior goaltender. Liam Soulier (Brampton, Ontario) from the slot to extend the lead to 2-1 at the 7:04.4 mark.
- Senior Christian Sarlo (Lynnbrook, N.Y.) won a battle near the half wall and sent a pass to Kirwan, who took a nice wrist shot from the left faceoff dot that Badger goaltender Kyle McLellan just couldn't catch at 12:27 of the third period, making the score 2-2.
- Midway through overtime, Ben Dexheimer scored a backhand shot between Soulier's legs at 2:34 to make it 3-2.
Goalkeeper
- Soulier made 28 saves in the loss and dropped to 10-12-1 on the season, while McClellan stopped 38 of 40 shots in the win to improve to 22-8-1.
Note
- Penn State held a 40-31 shot advantage but was 0-of-3 when they had the man advantage, including the five-minute power play. Wisconsin was 1-of-5 on the power play.
- Saturday night's attendance of 6,569 was the third-highest in Pegula Ice Arena history, with the top three all coming in the past three home series.
- The Nittany Lions are now 9-6-0 this year in games in which they have scored the first goal.
- Kirwan's goal broke a 10-game scoring streak and his third-period goal was his first since his hat trick against Army on Jan. 6.
next time
Penn State concludes the regular season next weekend on the road against Ohio State.
For more information about the 2023-24 season provided by Penn State Bookstore, the official bookstore of Penn State Athletics, visit the men's hockey page on GoPSUsports.com or call 1-800-NITTANY, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
