COLUMBUS, Ohio - Where there's a Wildung, there's a way.

Sophomore goaltender Brandon Wildung stopped 39-of-40 shots as the Mercyhurst University men's hockey team knocked off Ohio State University, 2-1, in front of nearly 3,000 fans at the Value City Arena on Friday night in a non-conference tilt. The Lakers, winners of three straight, improved to 6-3-0 overall while the Buckeyes remained winless on the young season, falling to 0-7.

Wildung's performance gave head coach Rick Gotkin his 499th career victory as he moves to within one win of becoming the 23rd coach in the history of college hockey, at any division, to record 500 career victories. The victory was only Mercyhurst's second against Ohio State in the all-time series (2-5-1). The Lakers' only victory against Ohio State, prior to Friday night, came on October 24, 2003 - a 3-2 win in Columbus.

Ohio State scored first when Nick Schilkey beat Wildung for his third goal of the season at the 10:19 mark of the opening period. Drew Brevig had the lone assist. That would prove to be the only time the Buckeyes could solve the Lakers' sophomore netminder, who improved to 5-3-0 on the season.

The Buckeyes outshot the Lakers, 12-4, in the opening period.

Mercyhurst would take only five more shots in the second period, but two of them found the back of the net behind Buckeye netminder, Christian Frey. Freshman sensation Derek Barach tied the contest at 1-1 just 58 seconds into the stanza when he beat Frey for his fourth goal of the season. Fellow freshman Taylor Best had the lone assist.

Then, at 9:40 of the second, Mercyhurst freshman Jeremy Wu was whistled for a tripping minor, hauling down Mason Jobst from behind to give the Buckeye forward a penalty shot. However, Wildung stoned Jobst on the penalty shot opportunity to keep the score deadlocked at 1-1.

Just under six minutes later, senior Kyle Cook then finished off the scoring, and the Buckeyes, with a shorthanded goal at 15:14. Cook, after passes from redshirt sophomore Jack Riley and sophomore Tyler Enns, sprinted up the right wing, deked a defender, and then slid a backhander under Frey for his second goal of the season. He leads the team with ten points in nine games - he scored ten points in twenty games a year ago.

It was Mercyhurst's second shorthanded goal of the season while it was the first shorthanded goal allowed by the Buckeyes.

The Wildung show continued from there - he stopped all 14 shots he faced in the second and all 14 he faced in the third to keep the Buckeyes from tying the contest. Frey was pulled with more than two minutes left, but Wildung and the Laker defense held on for the victory.

Ohio State held a 40-16 advantage in shots, but the difference was the sophomore netminder from Nassau, Minnesota. Wildung stopped 39 while Frey turned aside 14 in the loss. He dropped to 0-2 on the season.

Both teams finished 0-for-4 on the power play.

The Lakers will go for the weekend sweep, and Gotkin will go for his 500th career victory, on Saturday afternoon at the Value City Arena. Faceoff is scheduled for 4:05 p.m.