The Penn State Nittany Lions entered Monday afternoon’s Big Ten Hockey Tournament semifinal matchup with the top-seeded Wisconsin Badgers knowing that they needed to win if they wanted their season to continue. Penn State had mounted a big comeback in the quarterfinals to beat Notre Dame and came out on Monday with a little pep in their skates.
Wisconsin had two power play chances in the first period but couldn’t get much going and during even strength play the Nittany Lions were driving play into the Badgers’ zone. With just over a minute left in the first period the Badgers forecheck, led by Tarek Baker, won the puck and Dominick Mersch found Sam Stange all alone in front of the goal and he rifled one past PSU goalie Oskar Autio.