Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
Northeastern
#19 Falcons See Three-Goal Lead Evaporate In, 4-3, Loss To #11 Northeastern
December 28, 2007 | Ice Hockey
Dec. 28, 2007
MADISON, Wis. - Four unanswered second and third periods goals helped lead the 11th-ranked Northeastern Huskies to a, 4-3, victory over the 19th-ranked Bowling Green State University hockey team in game one of the 2007 Badger Hockey Showdown. The Friday evening contest was held at the Kohl Center on the UW campus.
Leading the way on the scoring chart for the Falcons would be sophomore forward Todd McIlrath. McIlrath setup both of BG's two first period goals helping the Falcons to an early lead, while junior goaltender Jimmy Spratt stopped 29-of-33 shots he faced in the evening. All three Falcon goals would be scored by their freshmen class.
With the win, the Huskies improved to 8-4-2 on the season, dropping the Falcons to 8-7-0. The win keeps NU unbeaten in nine-straight contests, which ties Notre Dame for the nation's longest unbeaten streak.
BG would make the Huskies come-from-behind to earn the victory as they held a 3-0 lead at the game's halfway point. However, two NU goals in a 1:30 span, ending at the 12:49 mark of the second, would trim the Falcons' lead to 3-2 going into the final intermission. Forward Jimmy Russo then tied the game up at 3-3 just 5:00 into the third on a diving tip in before the game-winning goal came just 8:03 later.
That game-winning marker would come from Huskies' defenseman Louis Liotti with 6:57 remaining in the game. Liotti's shot from the top of the left-wing circle would bang in off the right post behind Spratt after he received the face-off draw from forward Ryan Ginand.
Despite pulling the goalie in the final 1:24 of the game, the Falcons just couldn't swing the momentum back in their favor. Some late opportunities to tie the game up would come up just short as BG fell for the third-straight contest and for the fourth time in their last six games.
Early on it seemed as though the Falcons would be well on course for their 16th appearance in an in-season tournament championship tilt. Just 14:46 into the game they held a 2-0 lead, which they added onto just 2:24 into the second period.
Getting the scoring started would be freshman forward David Solway, who started his return to his home state with a bang. The Green Bay, Wis. native received control of the puck in the neutral zone and skated into the Huskies' end, before firing the puck past NU goaltender Brad Thiessen from the bottom of the left-wing circle, after faking a crossing pass to freshman forward Dan Sexton. McIlrath would pick up his first assist of the night on the play, along with defenseman Kevin Schmidt.
McIlrath then again setup the Falcons' second goal at the 14:46 mark. This time Tim Maxwell would find McIlrath, whose shot hit Thiessen and landed right on the stick of Sexton next to the crease. Sexton proceeded to knock the rebound in up top for his fourth-goal of the season as the Falcons took a 2-0 lead to the game's first intermission.
The game's momentum continued to ride with the Falcons into the early stages of the second as Jacob Cepis knotted his seventh-goal of the season at the 2:24 mark to increase BG's lead to three.
That is where it would end though as the momentum shifted over to NU for good with a goal by defenseman Dan Nycholat at the 11:19 mark of the period. Nycholat shot would find the net off the left post from the high slot area as the Falcons' lead slowly evaporated. Russo tallied his first of two goals on the evening just 1:30 later on a hard angle shot from the left-side boards, just off the red-line, to bring the Huskies within one at the second intermission.
Spratt would keep the Falcons close making some big stops down the stretch, including a big save on a shot from Liotti right in front of the net with 7:01 remaining in the third. The Huskies would end the game with a 33-26 advantage in shots as Thiessen stopped 23-of-26 Falcon shots on the other end.
Both squads would finish the game 0-3 with the man-advantage.
BG now awaits the loser of game two between the Colgate Raiders and the 13th-ranked Wisconsin Badgers. If the Falcons were to meet the Raiders, the consolation contest will take place at 5:07 p.m. on Saturday, but if they meet the host Badgers, they will face-off at 8:07 p.m.
Notes: the Falcon freshmen have accounted for nine of BG's last 13 goals, including all seven in the previous three contests ... the loss marked the first time this season the Falcons have lost a game after leading after the first period as they came into Friday's game with a 7-0-0 record when taking a lead to the first intermission ... the loss was also the Falcons' first in four games at the Badger Showdown as they came in having won three-straight games in the holiday tournament, which included a, 4-1, title game win over Yale in 1998 ... overall BG is 3-4 at the Badger Showdown ... The 33 shots given up by BG were a new season-high, beating the 32 they gave at RIT on Oct. 19th ... Todd McIlrath tied single-game high with his two assists ... the Falcons are now 2-5-2 all-time against Northeastern ... BG has won five consolation contests in their 39-year history with their last coming in 1999 when they defeated Union College, 5-4, in overtime to take third at the RPI/HSBC Tournament.
