Bowling Green State University
OHIO STATE
Falcons Fall To OSU, 7-2
October 20, 2005 | Ice Hockey
Oct. 20, 2005
BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The Bowling Green State University hockey team fell 7-2 to the preseason favorite Ohio State Buckeyes Thursday night inside the Ice Arena. The BGSU loss is the tenth straight to the Buckeyes.
"It was clear their transition game was too quick for us tonight," said head coach Scott Paluch. "Our mistakes and their quick transition was a key to tonight's game."
OSU (2-1-0, 1-1-0 CCHA) got on the scoreboard early following a Sean Collins power-play goal at the 3:14 mark of the opening period, but the possible turning point of the game came in the middle of the opening stanza.
Following a BGSU (0-3-3, 0-1-0 CCHA) rush, where sophomore Jonathan Matsumoto hit a slap-shot off the left pad of OSU goaltender Dave Caruso, the Buckeyes looked confused and left the left side of the net wide open. Two BGSU forwards missed an opportunity to slam home the puck, with the second attempt crashing off the boards and onto the stick of Buckeye Tom Fritsche. Fritsche skated nearly end-to-end and placed the puck over the right shoulder of freshman Jimmy Spratt for a short-handed goal, and a 2-0 Buckeye advantage.
"That was clearly a swing play," said Paluch. "Right before we gave up the short-handed goal we had some terrific chances on the power play."
Just over a minute later Ohio State extended their lead to 3-0 following a Rob Pelley goal.
BGSU looked to get to within 3-1 following a Matsumoto breakaway . He faked right, came back to left, but hit the left post, disappointing a crowd of 2,711.
The Falcons finally did get on the board with the help of their power play to start the second period. Sophomore Alex Foster hit a slap shot from the blue line off the pads of Caruso, with the puck landing directly onto James Unger's stick. He placed a backhand into the back of the net to close to within two at 3-1.
For the night BGSU was 2-for-8 on the power play and are 9-for-33 on the year. OSU finished the night 2-for-6 on the power play.
Two more OSU goals extended the lead to 5-1.
Matsumoto recorded his second point of the night on the Orange and Brown power play late in the second period. With a 5-on-3 advantage and an OSU defender without his stick, Rich Meloche shot the puck from just inside the right circle. An OSU defender bent down to cover up the puck, only to have it slip through his hands onto the stick of Matsumoto. The Orleans, Ontario, native did the rest.
For the night OSU out-shot Bowling Green 29-22.
BGSU and Ohio State will do it again tomorrow night in Columbus, Ohio. Face-off begins at 7:05.
