With a final score of 4-1, the Penn State Nittany Lions (15-7-4, 7-2-1-0 Big Ten) extended their win streak to eight games and completed a season sweep of the Wisconsin Badgers (2-18-4, 0-8-2-2 Big Ten) on Saturday afternoon in Happy Valley.
Penn State opened the afternoon on a power play goal by Luke Juha at 6:48, assisted by Nittany Lion superstars and Hobey Baker nominees Casey Bailey and Taylor Holstrom.
Penn State’s domination continued through the first forty minutes as Dylan Richard scored the game-winning goal off of an assist by Eric Scheid three minutes after the puck dropped in the second period.
Adam Rockwood had the Badgers’ lone goal in the second period. Grant Besse and Kevin Schulze assisted on the score.
The Badgers seemed to gain some momentum in the third period when Aidan Cavallini tipped the puck past Nittany Lion goaltender PJ Musico, but the goal was disallowed on a high-sticking penalty; less than three minutes later, Penn State made the score 3-1, riding a goal from James Robinson with 10:43 left in the game.
With 1:14 remaining to play, freshman Erik Autio, who won a bronze medal with the Finnish National Team at the International Ice Hockey Federation World Under-18 Championship, scored his first career goal as a Nittany Lion.
Wisconsin struggled to defend its territory against an aggressive Penn State offense. Goaltender Joel Rumpel faced an onslaught of shots, though he stopped 39-43 on the afternoon.
Musico went 27-28 in the effort.
Penn State will travel to East Lansing to take on Michigan State in a two-game series over Valentine’s Day weekend. Friday’s game begins at 7:05 p.m. and will be available on BTN2GO; Saturday’s begins at 6:00 p.m. and will be broadcasted on the Big Ten Network.
Photo Credit: GoPSUSports.com
