Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
ALASKA
Falcons Hand UAF First Home League Loss, 6-2
January 24, 2004 | Ice Hockey
Jan. 23, 2004
Fairbanks, Alaska - Bowling Green handed Alaska Fairbanks its first home loss in CCHA play this season with a 6-2 victory over the Nanoonks on Friday night. Behind 50 saves by Jordan Sigalet and two goals from Steve Brudzewski, the Falcons notched a big road victory over the second-place team in the league.
"It was a real solid effort in all aspects of the game," said BGSU Coach Scott Paluch. "Our penalty kill was good throught the game, especially in some real critical times. I really liked the way five-on-five we handled things defensively. From our own end to transition defense, I thought we did a real good job with that."
Besides holding the Nanooks to 1-for-8 on the power play, the Falcons' own power play was successful from the get go. On the first power play, Mark Wires took a pass from Brett Pilkington and backhanded a shot from the right side of the crease to give the visitors a 1-0 lead at just 3:36 of the first period. Kevin Bieksa also earned a helper on the goal.
Almost 10 minutes later the Falcons built their lead to 2-0 with another power-play tally. Don Morrison passed from the point down to Steve Brudzewski in the right circle. Brudzewski then passed cross ice to Ryan Minnabarriet who one-timed a shot past UAF goalie Preston McKay at 10:33 of the first period.
UAF's Jason Grinevitch brought the Nanooks to within one at 11:44 of the first period with a PPG. The Nanooks ended with a 14-12 shot advantage in the first period.
Paul Austin then knotted the game, 2-2, at 8:16 of the second period for UAF. On BGSU's third power play of the game, a UAF defenseman went to clear the puck from behind his own net and passed it right to a crashing James Unger at the top of the crease, who buried the shot at 13:05 of the second period for what would be the game-winning goal.
Bieksa built BGSU's lead to 4-2 at 18:31 of the second period with a slapshot thanks to assists from Bryan Dobek and Rich Meloche. BGSU scored two goals in the second period despite being outshot 22-8 in the frame.
Brudzewski scored his first goal of the game after taking a pass from Unger and driving to the net, wristing a shot top-shelf past McKay for a 5-2 lead 14:39 of the third period. Brudzewski then added an empty-net goal at 15:53 for the final 6-2 verdict.
"We got a great effort out of a lot of guys," said Paluch. "Sigalet in goal, all six defensemen, and all four lines contributed in a lot of ways. It's a real good win against a very good team."
"It's a tough place to play with all the travelling and that," said Sigalet. "I think the guys responded real well. We killed off big penalties and made plays when we had to."
"We're doing the little things," said Brudzewski. "We looked at keeping it simple and shooting the puck. We're blocking shots, too. Shoot pucks and block shots. Me and Minnabarriet are just clicking right now."
UAF held a 52-32 shot advantage in the game while BGSU was 3-for-4 on the power play.
Friday's win marke the first time this season that BGSU has strung together back-to-back victories this season (3-2 win over Michigan State last Saturday). Also BGSU improved to 7-2-4 when it scores a PPG, 6-6-1 in Friday night contests, and are now 2-7-3 on the road.
BGSU improves to 7-12-6 overall and 5-9-3 in the CCHA. UAF drops to 11-12-0 overall and 10-9-0 in league play. The two teams conclude the two-game series on Saturday at 11:05 EST. The game can be heard on 88.1 WBGU via the Alaska Fairbanks broadcast.
