The Penn State Nittany Lions (16-12-4, 8-7-1-0 Big Ten) could not find redemption against the Ohio State Buckeyes, (11-17-2, 6-10-0-0 B1G) falling by a final score of 5-3 on Saturday night at Value City Arena in Columbus, Ohio.
Five individual Buckeyes would score in the two-goal win over the Nittany Lions, winning back-to-back games for the first time in the 2014-2015 season while handing Penn State its second sweep of the year. Penn State fell to 0-4-0 in Value City Arena.
Penn State took an early two-goal lead as head coach Guy Gadowsky’s top line found holes in Buckeye goaltender Christian Frey’s defense. Casey Bailey started off the scoring 11:45 into the game with an assist from Taylor Holstrom and David Goodwin.
The trio would continue to add to the score. Taylor Holstrom tallied the next point, taking the helper from Bailey and Goodwin.
The Buckeyes put themselves on the board with a late first period goal from Justin Dasilva, who sent a rocket past Nittany Lion netminder Matthew Skoff. Skoff relieved veteran PJ Musico after Friday night’s loss against the Buckeyes.
Ohio State came out of the intermission ready to play; Sam Jardine scored in the opening five minutes to even the score at two apiece.
Penn State’s Mike Williamson scored 9:18 into the second period to put the Nittany Lions in front for the remainder of the second.
The Nittany Lions were on their way to a win, but a chaotic fight for the puck in front of the Penn State net put Holstrom out of game with an injury to his right leg, changing the momentum of the game and allowing Ohio State to pick up three goals in less than four minutes in the final period to take the game.
Gadowsky noted that Penn State seemed to fall apart after Holstrom’s injury.
“I thought after Taylor Holstrom left the ice, we fell apart. Obviously, we have to be a little tougher than that and we weren’t. We were vulnerable at that time and Ohio State jammed down the gas pedal and out-shot us 16-5 and scored 3-0.”
Nick Schilkey started the barrage of goals for the Buckeyes 9:18 into the third period. Tanner Fritz was next in line at 10:19, and Nicholas Jones rounded out the score at 13:35.
Penn State will return to familiar territory next week as they kick-off a two-game series against the Michigan Wolverines. Friday night’s game begins at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday’s at 3:00 p.m. for Senior Day. This will be the Nittany Lions’ final game in Pegula Ice Arena for the season. Both games will be available on BTN Plus.
Photo Credit: GoPSUSports.com
