Holloway’s late goal pushes Badgers over Penn State

Dylan Holloway made Valentine’s Day a little extra special for the University of Wisconsin men’s hockey team by scoring a late goal to defeat No. 9 Penn State Nittany Lions Friday night in the Kohl Center.

The freshman forward scored off a perfect assist from junior Ty Pelton-Byce with 1:04 left in the game.

Dylan Holloway, our holiday Hero‼️#OnWisconsin | #Badgers pic.twitter.com/JkPLKT8UKd

— Wisconsin Hockey (@BadgerMHockey) February 15, 2020

Although the Nittany Lions out-shot Wisconsin 38-27, Badger goalie Daniel Lebedeff made 35 saves to help his team improve to 11-17-1.

The Badgers used a quick start to put the Nittany Lions in a 3-1 deficit by the first intermission. Wisconsin went up with 9:17 left in the first on freshman Mike Vorlicky’s first goal as a Badger, then doubled its lead 11 seconds later on a score from junior Josh Ess.

Nittany Lion sophomore Paul DeNaples fired in a laser to cut the Badger lead in half at 9:50, but Wisconsin senior Max Zimmer answered with 4:35 left in the first. It was Zimmer’s third goal in as many games.

The second period remained scoreless until 11:57 when Penn State senior Liam Folkes scored off a rebound and cut the Wisconsin lead to 3-2. DeNaples fired a rocket off the goalpost to tie the game with just under eight minutes left in the second period.

Neither team was able to find the back of the net in the third until Holloway capitalized on his opportunity.

Wisconsin will host Penn State in the second game of the double-header on Saturday at 7 p.m. in the Kohl Center.