Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
MIAMI
BGSU Finishes Regular Season With 5-4 Loss To #3 Miami
February 26, 2006 | Ice Hockey
Feb. 25, 2006
OXFORD, Ohio - A game which saw 27 penalties, 21 power-play chances and five separate 5-on-3 opportunities all boiled down to the final few minutes as the BGSU hockey dropped a 5-4 contest to #3 Miami Saturday night inside the Goggin Ice Arena. The loss was the second straight one-goal loss to the RedHawks.
"It was a hard fought game and I thought our guys battled real hard," said BGSU head coach Scott Paluch. "They made the extra play to win the hockey game and that is the way it has been going for us lately."
Saturday night was Miami's senior night and their senior captain, Andy Green, spotted the RedHawks a 1-0 advantage at the 8:47 mark of the first period for the lone goal of the period.
BGSU (13-21-2, 8-18-2) looked to have knotted the score at one-apiece following a pass from senior Mike Falk, which found Jonathan Matsumoto with a wide-open net to shoot at, only to have his stick break and the puck roll into the corner.
Just 45 seconds later the Falcons had another great opportunity to get on the scoreboard but an open net opportunity by Derek Whitmore went by the wayside as he was hauled to the ice, giving the Falcons a power play opportunity that they would not convert on.
Miami (23-7-4, 20-6-2 CCHA) extended their lead to two following an even-strength goal by Brad Robbins at the 14:12 mark of the second.
The Brown and Orange finally got on the board with just 2:30 remaining in the second stanza following a power-play goal from Don Morrison. With Miami attempting to clear the puck, freshman Kevin Schmidt used his body to retain the offensive zone. He slid the puck over to sophomore Alex Foster, who found senior Brett Pilkington. Pilkington fed a perfect pass to Morrison who wristed a shot in the upper left-hand corner of the net to cut the RedHawk lead in half, 2-1.
With a 2-1 score entering the third both teams exploded for three goals a piece in the final 20 minutes. Just 1:36 into the third the Falcons tied the score at 2-2 with a great team goal. With Miami rushing down the ice, freshman Russ Sinkewich intercepted the pass and got the puck over to junior James Unger. Unger was able to beat his man and get to the front of the net for a scoring opportunity. Sophomore Jonathan Matsumoto picked up the Unger rebound and fired a shot off the right pad of MU's Jeff Zatcoff. The puck deflected over to Foster who converted on the goal, his 11th of the season.
Miami quickly regained the lead just six minutes later following a Ryan Jones goal, his 19th of the season, but the Falcons would once again answer back.
Matsumoto scored his 18th goal of the season (matching last year's total) at the 11:14 mark of the third. Pilkington slid the puck cross ice right onto the tap of Matsumoto, who top shelved the puck for his 10th power-play goal of the season.
Miami would get the next two tallies at the 15:51 mark and 18:38 mark. The final goal came after BGSU was forced to pull Jimmy Spratt.
BGSU continued to make things interesting though. With Spratt still on the bench for the extra attacker Falk scored his 14th of the season with exactly one minute remaining in the contest, but the Falcons could get no closer.
On the night BGSU finished 3-for-11 on the power play, while Miami was 2-for-10.
BGSU's Spratt finished the night stopping 26-of-30 shot attempts, while MU's Zatcoff turned-away 28-of-32.
The contest, which was the final regular season game for the Falcons, was also the final regular season contest for Miami inside the Goggin Ice Arena.
With the CCHA regular season complete the Falcons finish the year in 12th-place and will travel to #5 Nebraska-Omaha next weekend for the first round of the playoffs.
