Ohio State senior forward Quinn Preston (16) and senior forward Jake Wise (28) celebrate after a goal during the Ohio State-Michigan game Dec. 11, 2021. Ohio State won 6-1. Credit: Mackenzie Shanklin | Photo Editor
No. 12 Ohio State ended a four-game road stretch with a tie-and-win series in Penn State over the weekend.
The Buckeyes (19-7-2) tied Penn State (14-13-1) 2-2 in the first game Friday, but lost the shootout to forfeit an extra conference point. Ohio State head coach Steve Rohlik said the Buckeyes needed to improve Saturday.
“We were fortunate to get a tie,” Rohlik said in a release. “We didn’t play well enough to win and didn’t do enough of the things we need to do to be successful.”
The Buckeyes certainly were better Saturday, shutting out the Nittany Lions behind a 6-0 victory after 60 minutes.
Freshman goaltender Jakub Dobeš earned the win Saturday and set two new career-highs over the course of the series with 46 and 51 saves in night one and two, respectively.
A pair of freshman forwards opened the scoring in the first period Friday, when Penn State’s Danny Dzhaniyev scored his fourth goal of the season at 4:51, and Ohio State’s Cam Thiesing returned things to neutral at 8:05 in the same frame.
The 1-1 tie remained until 15:48 in the second period when Ohio State sophomore forward Joe Dunlap gave the lead back to the Buckeyes.
Penn State evened the score 5:52 into the final period off the stick of freshman forward Ben Schoen, who also scored in the fourth round of the shootout to secure an extra Big Ten point for the Nittany Lions.
It was all Ohio State Saturday in a game that featured goals from five different Buckeyes.
Senior forward Jake Wise buried the first two goals of the game past senior goaltender Oskar Autio, bumping his season total to nine at 12:10 and 17:37 in the opening period.
Dunlap lit the lamp in the second period just like he did the first night, extending the Buckeyes’ lead to 3-0 at 1:58 in the frame. Freshman forward Georgii Merkulov also scored in the second period at 12:03.
The final two goals were scored by freshman defender Mason Lohrei at 1:05 in the third period while Ohio State was on a power play, and junior forward Tate Singleton who netted an even-strength goal at 14:41.
Ohio State returns home to Columbus for a series against Wisconsin Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 8 p.m. Game one will air on Big Ten Network Plus with night two available nationally on Big Ten Network.
