Saturday, March 15
8:30 p.m.
Ohio State
vs
Penn State
No. 10 Buckeyes Host No. 11 Nittany Lions in B1G Semifinal Saturday
3/14/2025 10:43:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Teams will face off for spot in championship game
The Basics
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- The No. 10 Ohio State men's hockey team hosts No. 11 Penn State in a Big Ten Tournament semifinal Saturday.
- The No. 3 seed Buckeyes and No. 5 seed Nittany Lions will meet at 8:30 p.m. in Value City Arena in Columbus.
- The game will be televised by BTN and available on the Fox Sports app. Ohio State Radio will carry the game (1460 AM, Ohio State Buckeyes app and website) and live stats will be available through OhioStateBuckeyes.com.
- Ohio State is 23-12-2 this season and was 14-9-1 3-2-0 in conference play. Penn State is 20-12-4 and was 9-11-4 2-1-2 in league games. Ohio State won the last two games of its quarterfinal series vs. Wisconsin to advance and Penn State posted a sweep at Michigan to reach the semifinals.
- In the regular season, the Buckeyes were 2-1-1 vs. Penn State. Ohio State swept PSU in Columbus Dec. 5-6 (4-0, 4-2). In University Park, Pa., in January, the teams tied 6-6 in overtime (with a Penn State shootout win) and the Nittany Lions took game two in overtime, 3-2.
- This is the third time in four years the Buckeyes and Nittany Lions are meeting in the Big Ten Tournament. Penn State won a quarterfinal series in Columbus in 2022 and Ohio State prevailed at home in a quarterfinal series the next season, with both series going to three games. The other semifinal matchup between the teams was a 5-1 Penn State win in 2019 in Columbus.
- The other semifinal game is No. 7 Notre Dame at No. 1 Michigan State. The semifinal winners will advance to the final, which will be hosted by the highest remaining seed next Saturday (March 22).
- There will be a t-shirt giveaway for the first 1,000 fans Saturday.
- Tickets for the semifinal can be purchased online through OhioStateBuckeyes.com.
- Admission is free for Ohio State students with a BuckID.
- Parking is free in lots around the arena.
- Buckeye head coach Steve Rohlik is a finalist for the Big Ten Coach of the Year award and Logan Terness is one of three finalists for the goalie of the year honor.
- Ohio State is No. 10 in the USCHO and USA Hockey/The Rink Live rankings this week, its 20th-straight week in the Top 20.
- The Buckeyes are in the Top 20 in the NCAA in scoring defense (2.46 goals allowed per game), scoring offense (3.16 gpg), scoring margin (.70) and winning percentage (.649).
- For the sixth time in the last eight years, the Buckeyes have hit the 20-win mark.Â
- The squad posted its fifth Top 3 finish in the B1G in that stretch and the 14 B1G wins tied for the most in program history.
- Six Buckeyes have reached the 20-point mark. Gunnarwolfe Fontaine is first with 37, followed by Davis Burnside (32), Riley Thompson (31), Aiden Hansen-Bukata (25), Damien Carfagna (25) and Max Montes (24).Â
- Fontaine has a point in 17 of the last 23 games. He is fourth among current NCAA players with 134 career points.
- Hansen-Bukata hit the 100-point mark for his collegiate career against Wisconsin Feb. 15 and is one of two current NCAA blueliners with 100 or more points with 103.
- The Buckeyes are 17-14 all-time in Big Ten Tournament action.
- Ohio State advanced to this year's semifinals with a quarterfinal series win over No. 6 seed Wisconsin in Nationwide Arena. After the Badgers claimed game one 4-1, Ohio State prevailed in overtime, 3-2, in game two, including an extra attacker score that forced OT. A third-period power play goal broke a 1-all tie in game three, which the Buckeyes won 3-2.
- In the B1G semifinals, Ohio State is 2-6, with a 1-1 record in Columbus and 1-3 overall mark in games hosted at campus sites. The Buckeyes defeated Michigan in Nationwide Arena, 3-2 in overtime, in 2018 and lost to Penn State in Value City Arena the next year, 5-1. In 2023, Ohio State lost at Michigan, 7-3. Last season, the Buckeyes fell to eventual tournament champion and No. 1 seed Michigan State, 2-1, in East Lansing.
- The Buckeyes' other semifinal appearances came when the tournament was played at a neutral site. Ohio State defeated Minnesota in Saint Paul, Minn., in the inaugural tournament in 2014, fell to the Gophers in Detroit in 2015, 3-0, and lost to the Gophers in 2016, 4-2, in Saint Paul. In 2017, Ohio State fell to Wisconsin in Detroit, 2-1.Â
- Ohio State has never won the Big Ten Tournament, reaching the title game twice (2014, 2018). The squad has now advanced to the semifinals eight times (with the 2020 game canceled). Â
- As the No. 3 seed, Ohio State is 2-2 in the B1G Tournament, downing No. 6 Michigan State in a single-game quarterfinal in 2017 and losing a series to No. 6 Penn State, two games to one, in Columbus in 2023.Â
- The program has two conference postseason tournament titles, winning the CCHA in 1972 and 2004.Â
- Patrick Guzzo holds the Buckeye record with 15 Big Ten Tournament games played, with Davis Burnside and Joe Dunlap tied for second with 11 appearances. Burnside and Max Montes are tied for third with four career B1G Tournament goals.Â
- Ohio State leads the all-time series with Penn State, 27-23-5, including a 16-3-2 ledger in Columbus.
- This season, the squads faced off in Columbus Dec. 5-6, with Ohio State posting a sweep with 4-0 and 4-2 wins. In University Park, the teams met Jan. 24-25. Game one ended with a 6-6 overtime tie and Penn State shootout win and the Nittany Lions prevailed in overtime in game two, 3-2.
- In the postseason, Ohio State is 4-4 all-time vs. Penn State, with an 0-1 mark in the semifinals. Ohio State won a single-game quarterfinal in 2015 in Detroit and Penn State won a single-game semifinal in 2019 in Columbus. The Nittany Lions took the final two games of a quarterfinal series in 2022 to advance and Ohio State won games one and three to claim a quarterfinal series in 2023. Both quarterfinal series were in Value City Arena.
- Among current Buckeyes, Patrick Guzzo is first with 22 games played against Penn State, recording a 4-3-7 line. Joe Dunlap has skated in 21 games vs. the Nittany Lions, leading the current Buckeyes with five goals vs. PSU. Davis Burnside (15 games played) leads the current squad with seven assists vs. the Nittany Lions and he and Dunlap share the point lead with 10 points each vs. PSU. Riley Thompson (4gp) has three goals vs. Penn State this year and Gunnarwolfe Fontaine has four points (2g, 2a) in four games this season. Aiden Hansen-Bukata picked up five assists in the regular season vs. PSU. Max Montes has a 2-4-6 line in eight games against Penn State, with five of the points (2g, 3a) in four games this year.
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Players Mentioned
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