Crespo, Fink lead Nittany Lions to first Big Ten win in seven games

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Penn State snapped a six-game Big Ten losing streak on Friday night after taking down the Ohio State Buckeyes 4-3 in a thriller.

A theme all too familiar for the blue and white this season as they started off slow, allowing the Buckeyes to control the pace of play through the opening five minutes.

The Nittany Lions still couldn’t get their feet under them, which allowed Dalton Messina to bury a one-timer in the slot with 14:15 left in the first period.

Penn State started to get the gears turning after the goal against, getting the next four shots on goal and eventually tying things up with 5:20 left in the first off a second-chance shot from Xander Lamppa.

“We didn’t have a great start,” Jarod Crespo said. “ Feeding off the energy of the crowd was a big factor in us getting back on track and really taking over the game.”

The blue and white of old showed up after the response, hounding the scarlet and gray in their own end and forcing freshman goaltender Kristoffer Eberly to make some monster saves until the first period reached its conclusion.

The middle frame continued with a relentless forecheck from Penn State as it made every breakout difficult and held a 5-1 shot advantage through the first five minutes and change.

Penn State was able to fully capitalize on the Ohio State frustration, with a power play goal from star freshman Aiden Fink on a tripping penalty against Patrick Guzzo.

Ohio State tried to answer right back, with a plethora of Grade-A opportunities right in front of Liam Souliere’s crease, but the senior netminder made dazzling save after dazzling save to keep the Nittany Lions in the lead.

His ten-bell saves boosted his performance throughout the rest of the game, stonewalling some of the Buckeyes’ best chances.

“Seeing [Souliere] bounce back like that, it’s energy for all of us,” Danny Dzhaniyev said. “You can see that his confidence is growing more and more each game and that’s what we want to see on the bench.”

The scarlet and gray kept up the pressure and looked to have tied the game with 4:34 left in the second period, however, a review deemed the play no-goal due to a kick, much to the chagrin of the head coach Steve Rohlik’s squad.

Another tripping call on the Buckeyes gifted Fink his second power-play tally of the period off of a puck-on-the-string type of pass from Jarod Crespo with seven seconds left to double the Penn State lead.

The Calgary, Alberta native continues the scorching start to his Nittany Lion career after being named to the initial Hobey Baker Award watch list earlier in the week with his team-leading 30th point on the season.

“His play has not only been terrific, but inspiring,” head coach Guy Gadowsky said. “The way he plays is so fun to watch.”

The Buckeyes had a chance early in the third after a hooking call against Tyler Paquette and while they didn’t score on the man advantage, Michael Gildon took advantage of the tilted ice and made it a one-goal game with 15:49 left in the final frame.

Both teams traded chances back and forth, but it was Danny Dzhaniyev who found the crucial goal thanks to another brilliant feed from Crespo to extend the blue and white lead back to two with under 10 to play.

Crespo, alongside the other five defensemen for Guy Gadowsky, have started to look more and more like the highly-touted group they were deemed to be at the beginning of the season after the pairings were switched in South Bend.

Ohio State wouldn’t go away quietly however, with a goal from Thomas Weis on a chaotic play in front of Souliere’s net would make it 4-3 just a minute after Dzhaniyev’s goal.

Penn State was called for tripping with 2:27 left in the contest, giving a red-hot Buckeyes power-play a chance to equalize the score.

The Penn State defense prevailed however, similar to the football team’s “bend, don’t break” mentality, and stifled the scarlet and gray power-play to secure the 4-3 victory.

After special teams were the killer in Game 2 against Notre Dame, the special teams were the key to success, as the Nittany Lions were perfect on both the penalty kill and power play.

“Saturday [at Notre Dame] our goaltender gave us a chance and we were -3 on special teams,” Gadowsky said. “So our special teams certainly came through.”

The blue and white will go for their first series sweep since October of 2022 in the annual “Wear White” game Saturday at 6 p.m.

“I just get chills thinking about tomorrow because I know the crowd is going to be incredible,” Dzhaniyev said. “Every year it’s been like that and we’re going to feed off their energy.”

Joshua Bartosik is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jsb6137@psu.edu.