Ohio State dominated Wisconsin on the stat sheet in last night's win. Tonight's game was a different story. And this time the Badgers prevailed.
The Buckeyes seemed to pick up right where they left off in the early going, notching their first goal a minute into the tilt. Darik Angeli served up a beauty of a pass to a wide open Anthony Greco. UW goalie Joel Rumpel didn't stand a chance on the play.
| goals by period | 1 | 2 | 3 | final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wisconsin | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| Ohio State | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
Wisconsin's leading scorer, Grant Besse, answered at 11:58 of the period. The Buckeye forwards were slow to get back defensively. The Badgers capitalized on the ensuing odd man rush.
Christian Lampasso regained OSU's lead eight minutes into the second period. Rumpel had trouble handling Drew Brevig's shot off the wall and Lampasso deposited the loose rubber in the back of the net. The Buckeye freshman was one of the more noticeable Bucks over the final half of the game, hustling on every shift and nearly netting another goal. (He hit the pipe instead.)
The game took a turn at its midpoint. The referees whistled Matt Weis for a borderline hooking penalty. The Bucks successfully killed the penalty until Greco was felled by a hit the OSU bench felt was deserving of a call. The call never came. The Badgers flooded the Buckeye zone and scored.
| pd | time | buckeye goal scorers (assists) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:06 | Anthony Greco (Darik Angeli, Drew Brevig) |
| 2 | 8:03 | Christian Lampasso (Tyler Lundey, Drew Brevig) |
The sequence left a bad taste in Ohio State’s mouth and the team never seemed to recover from it. Wisconsin’s game strengthened. The Badgers controlled much of the play over the second half of the game. It was hardly a surprise when they scored the gamewinner at the 15:41 mark of the third period.
OSU made one final run at the Badgers with the extra attacker (which was Lampasso, also not a surprise). However Rumpel fended off the final assault. The win is Wisconsin's first in conference play this season.
Christian Frey made his second consecutive start in net for the Scarlet and Gray. He stopped 25 shots in the loss. This is a disappointing end to the series, but (unfortunately) not a wholly unexpected one. Anyone watching last night’s game knew it was not quite as solid as it appeared statistically.
With the lady Bucks' upset of the Badger women this afternoon, the weekend is a straight up split between the Ohio State and Wisconsin hockey programs. The Buckeye men must pick themselves up now and get ready for a home-and-home series with No. 12 Michigan next week.
