Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
FERRIS STATE
BGSU Snaps Nine-Game Winless Streak vs. Ferris State, Win 4-2.
February 05, 2005 | Ice Hockey
Feb. 5, 2005
Big Rapids, Mich. - Bowling Green snapped a nine-game winless streak against Ferris State on Saturday night with a 4-2 victory in Big Rapids, Mich. The win secured BGSU's fifth-place spot in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association and kept them within two points of fourth-place Nebraska-Omaha.
"It was a real solid win for our team," said BGSU Coach Scott Paluch. "Ferris plays so hard. The fact that we were able to stay in front dictated the game.
"Any time you can get points on the road is big right now, especially with so many teams bunched up. We're not going to get caught when the weekend starts, we need to keep that mentality."
Freshman Jonathan Matsumoto snapped a six-game goalless streak with a marker at 4:14 of the first period for a 1-0 Falcon lead. Junior Mike Falk assisted on the goal. Then Falk scored himself with a one-timer at the blueline via a pass from Alex Foster on the BGSU power play at 7:26 of the first period for a 2-0 Falcon advantage.
"Falk, Matsumoto and Foster, they're on a nice little roll for us," said Paluch. "They've been playing the 5-on-5 game well for us. All three guys give us a little something unique to the line. They all have some offensive flare that is really showing right now."
FSU's Eric Vesely cut into the Falcon lead at 12:24 of the first period with his second goal on the season. BGSU held a slim 11-10 shot advantage in the opening 20 minutes.
Matsumoto scored again at 4:36 of the second period for a 3-1 advantage. It marked his second multiple-goal game of the year and was assisted by linemates Falk and Alex Foster. However, Matt Rutkowski's power-play goal at 11:15 of the second period brought FSU to within one goal, 3-2.
Senior Steve Brudzewski scored the game's final goal at 3:25 of the third period and the Falcons held on for the final 4-2 verdict, BGSU's first win in Big Rapids since Feb. 27, 1999 (0-6-2 stretch). John Mazzei assisted on the goal.
"I think we came out strong from the beginning," said Matsumoto. "We came out and played hard for 60 minutes."
Senior Jordan Sigalet stopped 36 of 38 shots faced while FSU's Derek MacIntyre stopped 28 of 32 shots faced. FSU outshot the Falcons, 38-32. FSU was 1-for-7 on the power play and BGSU was 1-for-5.
BGSU improves to 13-9-4 overall and 10-7-3 in the CCHA, while FSU is now 9-17-4 overall and 4-14-4. The Falcons travel to in-state rival Ohio State next weekend for two games (Feb. 11-12) at Value City Arena. Faceoffs are scheduled for 7:05 p.m. each night.
BGSU Notes...
BGSU snapped a nine-game winless streak vs. FSU with its 4-2 win on Feb. 5. The Falcons also won their first game in Big Rapids in nine tries, dating back to Feb. 27, 1999.
JR Mike Falk's career-best and team-best seven game point streak came to an end on Feb. 4 at FSU. Falk had 4-4--8 during his point streak. He responded with a goal and two assists the following night.
BGSU notched its seventh game of the year with five or more goals on Feb. 4 in a 5-5 tie at FSU. The last time the Falcons had this many games with five or more was in 1999-2000 when they recorded 11 such games.
JR Bryan Dobek netted his first two goals of the season in a 5-5 tie on Feb. 4 vs. FSU. His last goal of the night proved to be the game-tying goal at 12:19 of the third period.
FR Derek Whitmore scored his team-leading 11th goal on Feb. 4, improving his shot percentage to 22.4 pct. (11 of 49).
SR Steve Brudzewski became the 13th Falcon to hit the double-digit point total with his goal on Feb. 5. He now has 7-3--10 in 21 games.
JR Jon Horrell stopped all 12 shots faced in the third period and overtime to lead the Falcons to a 5-5 tie at FSU on Feb. 4. He improved his record to 0-2-1 at BGSU.
BGSU improved to 12-3-0 when scoring first and 1-6-4 when the opponent scores first.
