No. 9/10 Buckeyes Force Game Three with OT Win

Saturday, March 8

7 p.m.

Ohio State

22-12-2

Wisconsin

13-20-3

OT 1

Wisconsin

Ohio State

No. 9/10 Buckeyes Force Game Three with OT Win

3/8/2025 11:20:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey

Box Score PDF Box Score

Teams will meet at 7 p.m. Sunday for spot in B1G semifinals

COLUMBUS, Ohio – With the game's last three goals, the No. 9/10 Ohio State men's hockey team rallied to defeat Wisconsin, 3-2, Saturday in game two of its Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal series in Nationwide Arena.

The Short Story
Wisconsin scored the lone goal of the first on the power play and made it 2-0 6:19 into the second. Buckeye freshman Jake Rozzi put Ohio State on the board at 16:57 of the second. In the third, Gunnarwolfe Fontaine deadlocked the score at 18:31 with an extra attacker goal and in overtime, Riley Thompson deflected a shot from Aiden Hansen-Bukata at 7:30 for the win. Ohio State outshot Wisconsin, 41-31, including 13-6 in the third period. Buckeye goalie Logan Terness had 31 saves in 66:22, with six in overtime.

Game Three Sunday
The Buckeyes, the No. 3 seed in the tournament, are now 22-12-2 on the year, with the No. 6 seed Badgers 13-20-3. The teams will meet at 7 p.m. Sunday for a spot in the semifinals. The game will be streamed through B1G+ and can be heard on Ohio State Radio. Tickets are available HERE.

Postseason This and That
This is the second year in a row the Buckeyes and Badgers are meeting in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. Last season, No. 7 seed Ohio State upset No. 2 Wisconsin in Madison, two games to one, winning games one and three. This is the fourth season in a row Ohio State's first round series has gone to a third game; Ohio State lost to Penn State in 2022 in Columbus and prevailed over the Nittany Lions in 2023 in Columbus before the Buckeye victory last year.

How it Happened

At 16:09 of the first Wisconsin's Joe Palodichuk scored five-hole from the side of the net on the power play to open the scoring.
Shots were 11-10 in favor of the Buckeyes in the opening 20 minutes.
In the second the puck was flipped out of the Badger zone and led to a 2-on-0 break for Wisconsin, with Kyle Kukkonen completing the play for a 2-0 Wisconsin lead at 6:19.
Buckeye freshman Jake Rozzi cut the advantage in half when he scored on a loose puck at 16:57. Ryan Gordon and Sam Deckhut assisted on the tally, Rozzi's fourth goal of the year.
Ohio State had the lone power play in the second and again outshot Wisconsin, 11-10, in the period.
The Buckeyes had two power play chances in the third when down by one – 5:31 and 8:21 into the period – but were unable to take advantage, putting three shots on goal in the two chances combined.
Ohio State pulled its goalie for the extra attacker with 2:29 remaining and a Badger chance at the empty net with 2:02 left went wide to keep the Buckeyes down just one goal.
Gunnarwolfe Fontaine tied the game with 1:29 remaining, as the puck came to him in the high slot and he put it through traffic. Davis Burnside and Damien Carfagna had the assists on the tally.
Shots were 13-6 in favor of the Buckeyes in the third.
Ohio State notched the win on its seventh shot on goal of overtime, when an Aiden Hansen-Bukata shot went off Riley Thompson right in front and in. Fontaine picked up the second assist on the goal, which came at 7:30.
Buckeye goalie Logan Terness had six saves in overtime and ended the game with 31 stops in 66:22.
The Buckeyes outshot the Badgers, 41-33, for the game. Wisconsin goalie Tommy Scarfone had 38 saves in 67:30.
Carfagna had two of the Buckeyes' six shot blocks and the Badgers blocked 12 Ohio State attempts.
For the game, the Buckeyes were 0-for-3 on the power play and Wisconsin was 1-for-1.
Fontaine leads the Buckeyes with 36 points, on 14 goals and 22 assists. Thompson has a team-high 17 goals and he and Burnside (13g, 18a) are tied for second with 31 points. Hansen-Bukata is first on the squad with 23 assists and ranks fourth with 25 points, followed by Carfagna with 24 points (6g, 18a).