MHKY: No. 7/9 Buckeyes Fall to No. 5 Irish, 2-1
Buckeyes head home with series split
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The No. 7/9-ranked Ohio State men’s hockey team dropped game two of its Big Ten Conference series at No. 5 Notre Dame, 2-1, Saturday in Compton Family Ice Arena. The teams split the series, after a 1-0 Buckeye victory Friday. Both the Buckeyes and Irish are 4-3-1 on the year and 1-1-0-0 in B1G play.
Next Up
The Buckeyes will close out their stretch of five straight road games with a nonconference series at Colgate next weekend. The teams will meet at 7 p.m. Friday and 4 p.m. Saturday in Hamilton, N.Y.
Notre Dame 2, Ohio State 1
The teams were scoreless after the first period, with each squad putting 13 shots on net and going 0-for-1 on the power play.
In the second, the Buckeyes went ahead 1-0 when Mason Jobst tallied his second of the series. The Buckeyes kept pressure down low, with a loose puck coming to Jobst in the slot. Carson Meyer and Freddy Gerard assisted on the goal, Jobst’s team-high fifth of the season. The Irish tied the game at 11:58 when Colin Theisen scored on a 2-on-1. The teams combined for 30 shots in the period, with the Buckeyes ahead, 16-14.
The Irish scored the gamewinner at 13:48 of the third, with Joe Wegwerth scoring unassisted off a Buckeye turnover. Shots were 11-10 in favor of the Irish in the third period.
Talking Shots
Ohio State had 39 shots in the game, with the Irish putting 38 on net. Sophomore Tommy Nappier made a career-high 36 saves for the Buckeyes in 58:21, topping the 35 stops he had twice last season.
The Buckeyes blocked 13 Irish shots, led by Matt Miller with four.
On the Power Play
Neither team scored on the power play – Ohio State held the Irish scoreless on three chances and was 0-for-2 with the man advantage.
Quoting Buckeye head coach Steve Rohlik
“This is a disappointing loss. We had an opportunity to win two games on the road and fell short.”
Buckeye This and That
- Nappier suffered his first loss as a Buckeye, with a 6-1-1 career record. This year, Nappier has a 1.62 goals-against average and .949 save percentage in four starts and five games played.
- Jobst passed former teammate Nick Schilkey (2013-17) for career goals in Big Ten play with 37.
- Ohio State has allowed two or fewer goals in six of eight games this season.
- Meyer and Jobst lead the Buckeyes with eight points each.
- The Buckeyes were 4-for-4 on the penalty kill in the series.
- Ohio State lost for the first time when scoring first since Dec. 31, 2016 vs. Miami, ending a streak of 26 games it was unbeaten when tallying the game’s first goal.