The Wisconsin Badgers men’s hockey team (4-8) swept Penn State (4-5) in their two-game series this weekend, extending their win streak against the Nittany Lions to seven straight wins.
Several players scored for the Badgers in their overtime win on Friday and 6-3 regulation win on Saturday in University Park, Pennsylvania.
Friday
Wisconsin defeated Penn State 5-4 in overtime on Friday night at Pegula Ice Arena. The two teams battled, scoring back-and-forth goals, but the Badgers prevailed in the end.
Forward graduate student Ryland Mosley struck first for the Badgers three minutes into the first period. Sophomore forward Quinn Finley intercepted an attempted breakout pass at the top of the circle and shot the puck. Mosley redirected Finley’s shot, tapping the puck past Penn State goaltender Arsenni Sergeev.
Penn State tied the game with one minute remaining in the first period on the power play.
Sophomore forward Sawyer Scholl scored his first goal of the season to put the Badgers up in the second period. Graduate defender Anthony Keherer’s shot rebounded off of Sergeev, and Scholl was right there to put the puck away.
With about three minutes left in the second period, graduate student Cody Laskosky tallied his first goal of the season. Laskosky’s wrist shot from the circle soared into the top of the net past Sergeev. Laskosky’s goal added to the Badgers’ lead, 3-1.
Despite Laskosky’s insurance goal, the Nittany Lions started the third period off hot, scoring just one minute and 43 seconds in to close the Badgers' lead by one. Penn State senior forward Ben Schoen tied the game shortly after.
Freshman forward Ryan Botterill reclaimed a 4-3 lead for the Badgers, scoring his second goal of the season. Penn State’s defense took Scholl down in the neutral zone, forcing him to lose the puck. Junior forward Simon Tassy picked up the loose puck at the red line and passed it to Botterill at the top of the circle. Botterill took a wrist shot, beating Sergeev over his left pad. With this, Scholl set his single-game career high at three points.
The Badgers lost their 4-3 lead with 50 seconds remaining in the third after Mosley entered the box for a holding penalty. Penn State pulled their goaltender to give themselves a six-on-four advantage on the powerplay. Penn State’s Danny Dzhaniyev beat Badger goaltender Tommy Scarfone on his left side to tie the game 4-4 and force overtime.
The Badgers went into their sixth overtime of the season after their 2-3 OT loss to the Minnesota Gophers last weekend.
With a minute and 12 seconds remaining in overtime, senior defender Daniel Laatsch picked up a wide shot from Penn State, creating a two-on-one breakaway. Laatsch took a shot to the left side of the net that sailed over Sergeev’s right pad, marking his second game-winning overtime goal of the year and sixth career goal. Laatsch also had five blocked shots for the Badgers.
The Badgers were outshot by the Nittany Lions 36-28 and went 43% on the faceoff circle. Wisconsin had five penalties and was successful on three penalty kills. Penn State had three power play opportunities, while Badgers didn’t capitalize on any.
Securing the sweep on Saturday
The Badgers completed their series sweep in their 6-3 defeat to Penn State on Saturday. The Badgers opened the floodgates, scoring four goals in the game’s first nine minutes.
Junior forward Kyle Kukkonen lit the lamp for the Badgers first, scoring 40 seconds into the first period off an intercepted pass from the Penn State goaltender. Kukkonen took a shot from the far right side at the top of the circle, beating Sergeev over his right shoulder to put the Badgers up early.
Just over two minutes later, Finley collected his eighth goal of the season. Freshman defenseman Logan Hensler caught the puck on the right side of the boards, passing the puck down to Mosley. Mosley passed the puck back to Hensler, who took a shot that Penn State goaltender Sergeev blocked. Finley was waiting at the back door and finished it off to put the Badgers up 2-0.
After the second Badger goal, the Nittany Lions switched goaltenders to Noah Granan.
Four minutes later, junior forward Christian Fitzgerald struck, scoring his first goal of the season. Fitzgerald retrieved the puck off a missed shot to make his way into the slot. After faking a shot, Fitzgerald slid the puck past Grannan.
The Badgers made it 4-0 only 42 seconds after Fitzgerald’s goal. The Badgers were on a two-on-one rush, Dyck with the puck and Laskosky to the right of him. Dyck let a shot rip at the left circle hashes, hitting the top right corner.
The Nittany Lions gained momentum coming into the second period, with Jarod Crespo scoring 48 seconds into the period on a three-on-one, beating Scarfone on the right side.
Charlie Cerrato scored his second goal of the series for Penn State, pushing a rebound in to make it a 4-2 game.
The Nittany Lions slimmed the goal differential margin to one with Aiden Fink scoring on a wrist shot with 11:34 remaining in the third period.
With 8:36 remaining in the third period, Penn State’s sophomore forward Matt DiMarsico received a major penalty for boarding.
With the advantage, freshman forward Gavin Morrissey passed the puck to Finley to break into the Penn State defensive zone. Finley skated the puck down the left side and found Mosley alone in front of Grannan. Mosley capitalized on the five-minute major only 23 seconds into the power play, beating Grannan over his left shoulder for his second goal of the weekend.
Laskosky netted his second goal of the series and the Badgers’ sixth goal of the night with 57 seconds left on the power play and about four minutes remaining in the third period. Morrissey passed the puck across the Penn State defensive zone to Finley who took a shot that was redirected by Laskosky, earning Wisconsin’s 6-3 lead.
The Wisconsin Badgers handed the No. 18 Nittany Lions their first two-game series sweep losses of the season at home.
The Badgers will be back in Madison at the Kohl Center on Nov. 29 and Nov.30. The puck drops at 7 p.m. Friday and 8 p.m. Saturday.
