Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
UConn
Falcons Capture Toyota UConn Holiday Classic With 9-2 Win Over Huskies
December 31, 2005 | Ice Hockey
Dec. 31, 2005
STORRS, Conn. - The Bowling Green State University hockey team captured the Toyota UConn Holiday Classic with a 9-2 win over the University of Connecticut Huskies on Friday night in Storrs, Conn., for their first holiday tournament championship since the 1998-99 season. Alex Foster, who recorded four points over the weekend, was named the tournament MVP.
Bowling Green's nine goals was the most this season after scoring eight in a win over Northern Michigan back on November 19. All nine goals were scored by different Falcons.
"This is a real good way to get back into it," said head coach Scott Paluch. "To come away with two good wins, it is a great start for us."
As stated before, the Falcons last holiday tournament championship came during the 1998-99 season. That year the Falcons captured the Bader Showdown crown with a 3-2 (OT) win over Cornell 3-2 and a 4-1 victory over Yale in the championship contest.
The Falcons did not take long to get on the scoreboard as sophomore Derek Whitmore recorded a power-play goal just 1:12 into the first period. With the Falcons rushing down the ice junior James Unger fired a shot from the right point with Whitmore picking up the loose rebound and placing the puck into the back of the net.
"We were excited for the opportunity to win a championship," Said Paluch. "I thought the effort and focus was real good early. UConn answered the bell there late in the first but we got it back in the second with some goal scoring to get the game in our favor."
Just over five minutes later the Falcons same power-play unit (Morrison, Nesdill, Unger, Pilkington and Whitmore) spotted the Falcons a 2-0 advantage after senior captain Don Morrison slammed home a wrister past UConn goalie Scott Tomes. Unger and Brett Pilkington picked up helpers on the goal.
The offensive barrage continued for Bowling Green as freshman Brandon Svendsen extended his point streak to five games after recording an even-strength goal at the 7:39 mark of the opening stanza. Svendsen skated in along the right side, fired a shot off Tomes, John Mazzei grabbed the rebound and got the puck back to Svendsen who jammed home the puck.
The Svendsen goal sent Tomes to the bench and brought in freshman Jon Anderson.
UConn's Sean Erickson cut the Falcons lead to 3-1 after recording his first collegiate goal at the 9:39 mark of the first with a blast from the point for a power-play goal to close out the scoring for the first period.
BGSU came out of the locker room looking to extend their lead, and did just that at the 6:31 mark after junior Bryan Dobek had a long ice pass onto the stick of Mazzei, who skated in on the UConn cage and roofed the puck past Anderson for the Falcons third short-handed goal of the season.
Sophomore Mike Nesdill recorded his first goal of the year just 29 seconds after the Mazzei tally. Nesdill fired a shot from the point which deflected off of the UConn net-minder's glove and into the back of the net. Foster and Svendsen assisted on the goal.
The Falcon power play scored on their third-straight attempt after Jonathan Matsumoto recorded his team-leading 12th goal of the year. Nesdill sent the puck up to Foster who skated down the left side and slide the puck directly to Matsumoto who scored through Anderson's five-hole. Nesdill's assist was his third point of the game, a career-high.
Just when you thought the Falcon offensive attack would slow down, Dobek intercepted a pass and scored off his backhand for an unassisted goal with 2:30 left in the second period, spotting the Falcons a 7-1 advantage. The Dobek goal was the end of the night for Anderson, and gave Tomes a second chance versus the Falcons to close out the second period.
Goals by James Unger and Rich Meloche recorded the final two goals for the Falcons, both coming in the third period.
Senior net-minder Bob Frazee replaced Horrell with five minutes remaining in the contest. The Falcon faithful gave Horrell a well-deserved standing ovation for his efforts over the weekend. After stopping 40-of-42 shots on Thursday night the senior turned away 30-of-31 shots versus UConn the following night.
For the game BGSU held a 36-34 shot advantage with BGSU going 3-for-5 on the power play, while holding the Huskies at a 1-for-7 clip.
The Falcons recorded four players on the all-tournament team with Alex Foster earning the tournament MVP. The tournament team included:
Jonathan Matsumoto, BGSU Alex Foster, BGSU - MVP Chris Uber, UConn Mike Nesdill, BGSU Marvin Deagon, UMass Jon Horrell, BGSUUp next for the Falcons is a Tuesday night tilt on Jan. 3 versus Colgate inside the BGSU Ice Arena. Face-off is set for 7:05.
