Ohio State hockey lives to fight another day. The Buckeyes defeated Penn State this afternoon by a final score of 3-1. The Nittany Lions equaled them in effort, but the Buckeyes proved to be the more opportunistic team.
The teams skated through a fairly even opening period. Neither side gained a territorial advantage. Neither side had many second effort opportunities. Each squad had two or three scoring chances. The difference was that the Bucks made the most of those chances.
| goals by period | 1 | 2 | 3 | final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ohio State | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| Penn State | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Nick Schilkey struck first for the Scarlet and Gray. The shifty forward pounced on a loose puck, put the moves on Penn State goalie Eamon MacAdam, and gave Ohio State the early lead. That lead was extended on another odd-man rush by the Buckeyes. Tanner Fritz set the puck. Then Justin DaSilva stepped up and crushed it past the Nittany Lion netminder.
Meanwhile at the other end of the ice Christian Frey locked down the OSU net. He alertly tracked the puck through traffic and turned aside all 11 shots he faced, including one on an Eric Scheid breakaway.
Penn State finally dented the net at the 9:38 mark of the second period. The Nittany Lions caught the Bucks in a 2-on-1. Defenseman Al McLean laid out, taking away bottom part of the net and a chunk of the passing lane, but Max Gardiner went high, ringing the top corner on Frey.
| pd | time | buckeye goal scorer (assists) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8:01 | Nick Schilkey (Dave Gust) |
| 1 | 14:13 | Justin DaSilva (Tanner Fritz, Clark Cristofoli) |
| 2 | 19:00 | Dave Gust (Sam Jardine) |
Ohio State regained its two goal margin with a minute remaining on the clock. The eagle eye of Sam Jardine spied Dave Gust cruising behind the Penn State defense. The Buckeye d-man threaded a long pass up the ice. Gust collected it, broke in alone on MacAdam, and potted a third OSU goal.
The Nittany Lions fired away at the OSU net over the final 20 minutes. However Frey and the defense withstood the assault and preserved the two goal lead. The Buckeyes now face a semifinal match-up with Minnesota tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. The game will air live on BTN and BTN2Go.
