On Friday Buckeye hockey pulled off double upsets with the women defeating No. 4/5 Minnesota and the men knocking off No. 10/12 Wisconsin. On Saturday both teams tried for the sweep. The women almost got theirs but had to settle for a shootout victory. The men also came up short, falling in regulation by a final score of 3-2.
| Scoring by Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 19 Ohio State | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| No. 10/12 Wisconsin | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
The first period was chippy and contentious. Wisconsin opened the scoring halfway through with Will Johnson finishing off a 3-on-1. The Badgers took a 1-0 lead into the break.
Back-to-back goals midway through the second period gave Wisconsin a daunting 3-0 advantage. Cameron Hughes zinged the puck by a screened Sean Romeo. Tarek Baker flat beat the Buckeye netminder on an uncontested shot 1:43 later.
| Pd | Time | Buckeye Goal Scorers (Assists) |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | 11:15 | Freddy Gerard (Matt Joyaux, Mason Jobst) |
| 3 | 11:39 | John Wiitala (Freddy Gerard, Mason Jobst) |
Ohio State appeared to put a dent in the Badger lead late in the second period. Christian Lampasso deflected a shot past Wisconsin goalie Kyle Hayton. However, upon further review, the goal was deemed to have been touched with a high stick and disallowed.
Hayton kept the Buckeyes off the board until the 11:15 mark of the third period. Then the Scarlet and Gray started to rally. Ohio State went from zero to two goals in a 24 second span. First Freddy Gerard hammered home a Mason Jobst faceoff win. Then Gerard served up John Wiitala’s second goal of the series.
The Bucks continued to put pressure on Hayton but the Badger goalie did not surrender any more net. Wisconsin held on for a 3-2 win. The teams split the weekend series and share the Big Ten lead with identical 1-1-0-0 records.
A glance at the final score is going to make this look like a fairly evenly played game. The truth is that Badgers took control in the first period and pretty much never looked back. They outshot the Buckeyes 9-3 in the opening frame and 25-18 overall.
Ohio State’s defensive issues really reared their ugly heads tonight. All of Wisconsin’s goals came on clean looks at the net and/or odd man chances. Neither side recorded a power play goal. OSU went 0-for-6. The Badgers were 0-for-4.
The Bucks are back in Columbus next week for their home opener. They host Rensselaer on Friday at 7pm ET and Saturday at 4pm ET
