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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
Wayne State
Hockey Ends Two-Game Skid With 3-1 Victory At Wayne State
November 30, 2007 | Ice Hockey
Nov. 30, 2007
DETROIT, Mich. - Two first period power-play goals and a 21-save performance from goaltender Jimmy Spratt, propelled the Bowling Green State University hockey team to a 3-1 non-conference victory on Friday evening over the Wayne State Warriors. The Friday tilt was held at the Michigan State Fairgrounds Coliseum.
Leading the way for BG on the night would be sophomore forward James Perkin, who tallied a game-high two points on two assists. Perkin was one of eight Falcons on the evening to tally a point, as the win snapped a two-game losing skid for the Falcons and tied them already with last season's win total of seven.
With the victory, the Falcons' record improved to 7-4-0, while WSU fell to 3-8-2.
"Tonight's win was a big win for us on the road," said BG coach Scott Paluch. "We were able to withstand a strong effort from Wayne State and I thought our special teams were the difference in the game. We scored the three power-play goals. We didn't give up any power-play goals and the special teams really bailed us out. But we did a good job of weathering the storms all night and Jimmy [Spratt] was solid in net all night."
One of those three power-play goals that the Falcons would score would prove to be the final difference in the game. Already leading 1-0 in the first period after a power-play marker from senior Mike Nesdill, freshman forward Jacob Cepis would tally his first collegiate game-winning goal, as Kevin Schmidt and Josh Boyd both picked up helpers on the play. Cepis' hard-wrister from the right-wing circle would find the left side of the net past Warrior goaltender Kyle Funkenhauser, to give BG a 2-0 lead at the 12:50 mark.
The Falcons would finish the opening stanza 2-3 with the man-advantage. BG's other goal in the first 20 minutes came from Nesdill just 5:03 into play. Nesdill's hard-slapper from the point found the back of the net, as Perkin picked up his first of two helpers on the night, while Tim Maxwell also assisted on the goal.
BG would hold a 15-5 shot advantage in the first period and would hold an 11-7 mark in the second. However, the Falcons would have to withstand a WSU comeback attempt during the second, as Jon Grabarek was able to beat Spratt at the 9:01 mark to pull the Warriors within a goal at 2-1.
WSU then thought they had the game tied up with 2:58 left in the period, but their goal was waived off due to a goaltender inference penalty that went against forward Derek Punches.
BG would take advantage of the mishap and tally their third power-play goal of the evening just 1:42 later. Brandon Svendsen picked up his seventh assist of the season, as he found Perkin, who found senior forward Derek Whitmore near the front of the net, who slid the puck past Funkenhauser to give BG another two-goal lead at 3-1.
For Whitmore, the goal was his 13th of the season and his 10th in the last eight games as he sits just 18 points away from the century mark in his career.
Leading 3-1 going into the final 20 minutes, the Falcons would have to weather some more storms as the Warriors got four power-plays on them in the period. Despite having a great 5-on-3 chance though to get back in the game, the Falcon penalty-kill was solid, holding the Warriors scoreless on all four chances they had.
A big reason behind the stops was the play of Spratt, who kept WSU off the board on 10 third period shots as the Warriors out-shot BG, 10-2.
Spratt, who was making his sixth-start of the season in the BG net, was tough to beat all night. He and the Falcon penalty-killers held the Warriors scoreless on all six power-play chances they'd have on the evening. It was the second-time this season that the Chesterfield, Mich. native has allowed just a single goal to the opposition, as he upped his season save percentage to .901 in his effort.
BG would end the night 3-6 with the man-advantage, while they also held a 28-22 advantage in shots on net.
Funkenhauser would make 25 saves on the night for WSU in the loss.
The two teams will conclude their two-game set on Saturday when they drop the puck at 7:05 p.m. from the BGSU Ice Arena. All the action can be heard by tuning into WBGU 88.1 FM, as Danny Nieves will bring you all the play-by-play.
Notes: BG is now 7-1 this season when they tally a power-play goal and are 6-0 when leading after the first period ... The Falcons are now 5-2 on the road this season ... Josh Boyd's first period assist was the first of his collegiate career and was just his second career point ... Boyd scored a goal last season as a freshman in a 6-4 BG win over Alaska on Dec. 9 ... with just 12 more goals, Derek Whitmore will tie for 19th on the all-time BGSU career list for goals with Peter Wilson (1980-84), Curtis Fry (1993-97) and Rich Nagai (1972-76) ... Whitmore is now just six goals shy of his single-season career high of 19, set last season ... the Falcon defensive core, which came into the weekend tied for 11th-nationally in points, upped their season point total to 27 points with their three points (1-2-3) on the evening ... BG's two goals in the first period now gives them a 13-4 scoring advantage over their opponents for the year in the opening stanza and an 11-3 advantage over them in the last eight games ... James Perkin's multiple-point game was the 25th for the Falcons this season after having 31 total a season ago ... BG's opponents are now just 3-for-31 on the power-play the last six games, as the Falcons killed at a percentage of .903 during those contests ... BG is now 6-2-1 against CHA opponents under head coach Scott Paluch ... The Falcons have now scored at least three goals in seven of their 11 games this season.
