With THON commencing across the street at the Bryce Jordan Center and a wrestling match across campus at Rec Hall, No. 6 Penn State men’s hockey took the ice at Pegula Ice Arena for a get-right opportunity against Ohio State.
After tallying a 0-3-1 record in its last two series against No. 1 Michigan State and No. 2 Michigan, the Nittany Lions earned a reprieve in the schedule against the Buckeyes, who entered with a losing record on the year. Clad in alternate throwback uniforms, Penn State dominated the visitors from start to finish, winning 11-4 in a historic night for both the program and freshman forward Gavin McKenna, who set team records for assists and points in a game.
The Nittany Lions’ 11 goals also tied the program record for most in a game, and their five-for-five mark on power plays was another program record.
“The puck went in today,” head coach Guy Gadowsky said after the game.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Ohio State controlled possession through the opening minutes, but it didn’t translate into shots on net. The Buckeyes’ aggression did lead to a two-on-one opportunity for Penn State, but Shea Van Olm and Carter Schade were unable to convert and collided behind the Buckeye net, falling to the ice.
After review, Ohio State’s Bryce Ingles was penalized for interference, which led to the collision. Just seconds into the power play, Aiden Fink put the Nittany Lions on top with a heater from the left slot.
“It feels good when the puck’s bouncing your way,” Fink said. “There’ve been games where it hasn’t bounced our way.”
Moments later, Buckeye forward Riley Thompson was whistled for hooking, sending Penn State back to the man advantage. Similar to the first time, McKenna scored seconds into the penalty to make it a 2-0 game.
Ohio State captain Davis Burnside had a golden opportunity to halve the deficit with goaltender Josh Fleming out of position, but Fleming quickly recovered for one of his best saves of the year, causing the crowd to erupt.
“That was probably the most spectacular save, but it certainly wasn’t the only one,” Gadowsky said. “He made a number of them.”
A hooking call on Nick Fascia allowed the Buckeyes back into the game on a power-play goal from Félix Caron, slicing the lead before the first intermission.
After being outshot 18-10 in the opening frame, the Nittany Lions blitzed the attack zone out of the break. After Chris Able was called for tripping, Matt DiMarsico scored to keep Penn State perfect on the power play.
Possessing a 3-1 advantage, the blue and white remained on the attack, and JJ Wiebusch got in on the action, jamming home a loose puck to extend the lead.
Ohio State quickly got one back when Caron scored his second of the night on a breakaway, but Van Olm rifled the puck top-shelf past netminder Kristoffer Eberly to retake a three-goal advantage.
Some precision passing in front of the net gave Luke Misa an open look, which he capitalized on, giving every forward on Penn State’s top line a goal. However, the Buckeyes mounted another breakaway, and Burnside wristed it home to make it 6-3, marking the sixth combined goal in a six-minute span.
Things settled down for a moment, but both Van Olm and DiMarsico scored their second goals of the contest to make it 8-3 heading into the final 20 minutes. Misa joined the two-goal club shortly into the third period, which also gave McKenna his sixth assist and seventh point of the game for a pair of program records.
“We’ve always been a team that scores with depth and I think it’s really important for how we play, and it’s really important to take pressure off Gavin and everybody else,” Gadowsky said.
Penn State’s dream night was dampened when defenseman Nick Fascia, who had been playing right wing due to various injuries, limped down the team tunnel late in the third period with an apparent injury.
“I do know that he did get cut, I do know it was a bad cut, I don’t know anything other than that,” Gadowsky said.
Ohio State added a late goal off the stick of Adam Eisele to make it 9-4, but the Nittany Lions weren’t finished. Seconds into another power-play opportunity, Jackson Smith buried the puck for his first goal of the night, extending his program record for single-season goals by a defenseman while also allowing McKenna his seventh assist and eighth point of the night, bettering his records.
“Feels good. Wherever you go, you want to leave your mark,” McKenna said. “The program has a lot of history, obviously it’s pretty new, but the stuff they’ve done to get to this point and bring in these high-end players, it’s pretty special and I’m glad to be a part of it.”
The Nittany Lions struck again with under three minutes to play, when Reese Laubach scored to make it 11-4, capping off a historic night in Happy Valley.
Team leaders
Goals: Luke Misa, Matt DiMarsico, Shea Van Olm, 2
Assists: Gavin McKenna, 7
Saves: Josh Fleming, 38/42
Up next: The second game of the series is slated for 8 p.m. Saturday
