No. 7/9 Ohio State and No. 5 Notre Dame resumed their Big Ten battle on Saturday night. The Buckeyes were victorious in the opening game of the series. The Irish had the last laugh.
| Scoring by Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 7/9 Ohio State | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| No. 5 Notre Dame | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Cale Morris returned to the Notre Dame net for the series finale. As he has done throughout the season, Tommy Nappier took over the Buckeye net for Saturday’s tilt. The action was considerably livelier than it was last night but both goalies kept their nets clean through the opening period
| Buckeye Goal Scorer (Assists) | Pd | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Mason Jobst (Carson Meyer, Freddy Gerard) | 2 | 3:25 |
Both sides turned the jets up in the second period, recording 30 combined shots on goal. Both teams netted goals as scorers found gaps in the defense.
Mason Jobst drew first blood for the Buckeyes. He took the puck to the net. The Irish defender thwarted his first attempt but the captain stayed with the play. Alone in front, he collected the loose puck and ripped a point-blank bomb on his second try.
Notre Dame answered midway through the stanza. Jake Pivonka threaded a pass through two Buckeye defenders to Colin Theisen for the back door slam on Nappier. The teams headed to the third period knotted at 1-1.
The Bucks and Irish went up and down the ice throughout the final frame with a look at the net here and there but no sustained pressure. A scoring opportunity suddenly opened up for Notre Dame at the 13:48 mark. The Irish took advantage of their unexpected good fortune.
Joe Wegwerth intercepted a pass/clearing attempt by OSU defenseman Matt Miller. Nappier did his best to make himself large but Wegwerth found a chink of open net. The Irish led, 2-1, with 6:12 to play.
The Bucks manufactured some terrific pressure in the final minutes of the game, even before pulling Nappier for an extra attacker, but Morris denied every attempt. Notre Dame held on for the win. Ohio State dropped to 4-3-1 on the year and 1-1-0-0 in the Big Ten.
Head coach Steve Rohlik was concise in his postgame assessment of the contest. "This is a disappointing loss. We had an opportunity to win two games on the road and fell short."
Any time a team gets the lead you really want to see them keep it. But considering the Bucks' recent struggles and the fact that they are still sans Laczynski, a series split is not a terrible result. This was actually one of the team's more well-rounded weekends of work.
Ohio State plays another road series next week. The Bucks are at Colgate for a 7pm ET game on Friday. Saturday’s tilt begins at 4pm ET.
