Ohio State hockey prevails over Wisconsin in Shootout

The basketball Buckeyes may have not fared too well against Wisconsin last weekend, but in hockey OSU reigns supreme over the Badgers.

The Ohio State Men's hockey team took down last place Wisconsin in the shootout after being tied 2-2 through regulation and overtime. It gives the Buckeyes another win, albeit with one less point, after splitting with Minnesota last weekend and sweeping Penn State the weekend before that.

Things were fairly quiet for the first period and a half as there was no scoring. Ohio State outshot Wisconsin 9-6 in the first period and 14-7 in the second. But it was still scoreless until Tyler Lundey scored for OSU at 13:21 of the second. Sam Jardine got the initial shot on goal, but couldn't put it past Landon Peterson despite OSU's recent prowess in goals on shots from the point. But Lundey put home the rebound and the Buckeyes led 1-0 after two.

In the third, things went off the rails. Brad Navin put home a rebound to tie it for Wisconsin at 3:15. But just six minutes and 21 seconds later, Matt Weis scored on a pass from Nick Schilkey on a 3-on-1 to put the Buckeyes back up. The goal came at 9:36. But, at 16:03, Wisconsin tied it up again as Navin struck again. These were only his second and third goals of the season. Shots were only 8-7 Wisconsin in the third, expectedly as Wisconsin came in behind, but three goals were scored and we were heading to overtime.

Overtime looked a lot like the first two periods. Shots were only 4-3 in favor of OSU and nobody could put one home despite Wisconsin finding a breakaway in there. Christian Frey, who's been showing subtle signs of his Big Ten Tournament form of a year ago, stoned Wisconsin.

So, off to the shootout we went.

Morgan Zulinick scored on the first attempt for Wisconsin but Nick Schilkey tied it up in OSU's first attempt. Both Navin and Weis missed in the second round. Navin must have lost whatever magic taught him how to score goals. Joseph LaBate and Christian Lampasso both scored in round three to make it 2-2. Lampasso looks a little weak on the puck sometimes, but the man clearly has skills and Coach Rohlik's confidence in him was well placed as he converted. David Gust and Adam Rockwood both missed in the fourth round before Cameron Hughes and Tanner Fritz both converted in the fifth round to keep it tied at 3-3.

And then it was the dark period. The next nine shooters would miss and it would come down to Clark Crisotofoli. The senior defenseman from Lewis Center, Ohio put it past Peterson to give the Buckeyes the second point.

Christian Frey kept his recent strong play going, stopping 22 out of 24 shots for a save percentage of .917. Frey may need to step up another level to have a chance in the Big Ten Tournament, but if he does, we saw how far the Buckeyes could go last year.

But there's still one more regular season game before the conference tournament. The Buckeyes will close out their regular season in Madison tonight at 7pm and will hope to keep their momentum going with the Big Ten Tournament imminent.