Ohio State’s men’s hockey team nearly erased a four-goal deficit Saturday night, scoring three times over the final two periods before falling 4-3 to No. 13/15 Augustana at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus. The Buckeyes dropped to 2-4-0 on the season, while the Vikings improved to 4-0-1 after holding off the late charge in front of the home crowd.
Augustana seized control in a punishing first period, opening the scoring at 7:10 and adding a power-play goal at 10:21. The Vikings then struck twice in a 24-second span late in the period, at 14:57 and 15:21, to carry a 4-0 lead into the first intermission and silence the Schottenstein Center.
Ohio State shut Augustana out for the final 44 minutes and 39 seconds of the game, and freshman Ryan Rucinski put the Buckeyes on the board in the second period with a power-play goal from outside the slot, assisted by Felix Caron and Sascha Boumedienne. It was the only goal of the period, but it gave Ohio State life heading into the third.
The rally gathered real momentum in the final five minutes. With the net empty for an extra attacker, Rucinski scored again at 15:52, and Benjamin Wilmott added another extra-attacker goal at 19:05 to pull Ohio State within one, 4-3, with less than a minute to play.
The Buckeyes could not find the equalizer in the closing seconds, however, despite outshooting Augustana 24-20 for the game and 22-10 over the final two periods. Ohio State’s push came after a first period in which it managed only two shots against the Vikings’ early surge.
The loss closed a nonconference weekend for Ohio State, which now turns its attention to the start of Big Ten play. The schedule offers no soft landing: the Buckeyes’ next opponent is the top-ranked team in the country, and the series is at home.
Ohio State hosts No. 1 Michigan at the Schottenstein Center next weekend, with game one Saturday at 6 p.m. and the series finale Sunday at 7:30 p.m. Saturday’s game features a wear-black theme and trick-or-treating on the concourse, while Sunday is a Scarlet Out with a rally towel giveaway.
Photo: JonRidinger, CC BY-SA 4.0 — Schottenstein Center, Columbus