What was once a promising season, has come to a halt at the hands of a 3-1 defeat by Ohio State Sunday night in Columbus. Penn State lost the Big Ten Conference quarterfinal series 2-1 after evening the series at 1-1 Friday night.
Now, the Nittany Lions await their fate as an at-large team for the NCAA Tournament. Penn State actually has a decent chance at the at-large bid given they’re currently ranked No. 10 in the PairWise rankings with Minnesota and Michigan both ahead of them in the rankings.
Sunday night’s outcome was the opposite of what happened in the quarterfinals last season when the Nittany Lions ended the Buckeyes’ season in the Big Ten Tournament and it looked as though that just might be the outcome once again.
For the first 30 minutes of action, Penn State played a composed, assertive game including a goal from forward Kevin Wall 6:28 into the second period. It seemed like everything was flowing in the Nittany Lions’ favor and like the team had picked up right where they left off in last night’s Game 2 victory.
Then, Ohio State took control. It started with a disallowed goal, the second of the night, from forward Stephen Halliday. What looked to be a goal was ultimately kicked in, but it did result in a Penn State tripping penalty.
That seemed to provide the spark the Buckeyes needed as forward Cole McWard found the back of the net just over a minute into the power play. Just 3:37 later it was forward Scooter Brickley’s turn to find the net for Ohio State scoring on a 3-on-1 advantage following a Penn State rush.
In the third, the Nittany Lions went down fighting quite literally with both Wall and Chase McLane getting game misconducts for fighting. That plus an empty net goal by Ohio State forward Tate Singleton ended any thought of an equalizer late in the game.
