Bowling Green State University
Michigan
#18 Hockey Falls To #3 Michigan, 4-2, In Front Of 4,314 Fans At The BGSU Ice Arena
December 08, 2007 | Ice Hockey
Dec. 7, 2007
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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The #3 Michigan Wolverines got three unanswered third period goals in the final five minutes of play to battle back from a 2-1 deficit and down the #18 Bowling Green State University hockey team, 4-2, on Friday night (Dec.7). The Central Collegiate Hockey Association contest was held in front of 4,314 fans at the BGSU Ice Arena.
With the win, the Wolverines improved to 15-2-0 on the season and 10-1-0 in the CCHA, dropping the Falcons to 8-5-0 and 5-4-0, respectively.
BG got a 26-save performance out of junior goaltender Jimmy Spratt and goals from freshmen forwards Dan Sexton and David Solway on the evening, but just couldn't keep U-M at bay for long enough. Despite holding a 2-1 lead all the way till 4:21 showed on the third period clock after they, themselves, had battled back from a 1-0 deficit heading into the second period, the Falcons let the Wolverines slip past.
U-M freshman forward Matt Rust would find the net on a deflection in front off a shot from Aaron Palushaj to even the game at 2-2 at the 15:39 mark of period. It wouldn't take long for that to be followed by the eventual game-winning goal from sophomore Chris Summers. Summers, playing his first game of the season for the Wolverines at forward, would tip in the game-winner on a rebound from teammate Travis Turnbull to give U-M a 3-2 lead with just 1:23 showing on the game clock. Chad Kolarik would then go on to add an empty net goal with just seven seconds remaining, as the Wolverines escaped with the victory.
"I thought we played a pretty good hockey game," said BG coach Scott Paluch. "We had our chances early in the third period to extend the lead to 3-1. It was crunch time, time to make plays and unfortunately they (Michigan) made the plays down the stretch. We held up pretty good and I liked the fact that we came back to take the lead. I thought we started the third period well, but [Billy]Sauer made some key saves and they had some guys make plays down the stretch".
Time and time again it looked like the Falcons may stretch their third period lead to two, as they got the period off to a great start. Their best opportunity would come from senior forward Derek Whitmore around the 15:00 mark, but his big breakaway chance sailed wide of the Wolverine cage.
Wolverine net-minder Billy Sauer would make eight of his 27 total saves in the period, as the Wolverines held a slight 9-8 advantage for the period in shots on net.
Once U-M grabbed their 3-2 lead, BG tried to tie the game back up with the extra-man on the ice, but were unable to beat Sauer despite a few good chances that came about in front of the net.
Good opportunities in front is what got the game's scoring started on the night. After both squads battled tough thru a first period that saw plenty of hard, physical play, the Wolverines would take a 1-0 lead when Kevin Porter found the net with just 36 seconds remaining in the period. Porter's goal came about after the Falcons won a faceoff in their own zone, but failed to clear the puck as Kolarik got the puck in the left circle and found Max Pacioretty, who found Porter in the right slot for the goal. His high shot beat Spratt over his left shoulder as U-M took the lead despite BG holding a 12-8 edge in shots for the period.
"You certainly don't want to give up a goal to end a period, especially when you play as well as we did in the first," said Paluch. "But we talked in between periods about earning the momentum back and I thought we did that. We played a very good second period to take the lead."
Take the lead is what BG did as they held U-M scoreless on their two power play chances in the period and capitalized on one of their three to even things up. Just three seconds after a Falcon penalty expired with the teams playing 4-on-4, Sexton would tally his third goal of the season on a rebound in front from a shot by Whitmore for the power-play marker at 12:50. Junior defenseman Kevin Schmidt also added his 11th helper of the season on the goal.
The goal gave BG new life and new energy, as they took ahold of the game's momentum and ran with it. Just 3:31 after Sexton tied the game at 1-1, Solway would put the Falcons in front on his fourth lamp-lighter of the season. James Perkin and Mike Nesdill would get assists on the play as Solway chipped in Perkin's crossing pass from just outside the crease.
That would be all the scoring on the night however, as BG dropped their first in three games, ending a two-game win streak despite holding U-M to 0-5 on the evening with the man-advantage. The Falcons would end their night 1-6 as the Wolverines held a 30-29 overall advantage in shots on goal.
The two squads will return to action tomorrow when they conclude their two-game CCHA series at Yost Ice Arena in Ann Arbor, Mich. You can hear all the action by tuning into WBGU 88.1 FM with Danny Nieves and Bob Mills bringing you all the play-by-play action.
Notes: Tonight's loss to the Wolverines was the first for the Falcons in three games, as they had defeated U-M at the BGSU Ice Arena the past two seasons ... the Falcons have now killed-off 22-straight power plays after holding the Wolverines scoreless on three opportunities ... team's are now just 3-for-39 (.076) against the Falcons on the power play in the last eight games ... Derek Whitmore's assist in the game was the fourth of his career against the Wolverines as he leads all BG scorers against U-M with eight career points (4-4-8) ... Whitmore is now just 17 points away from 100 for his career ... Mike Nesdill and James Perkin both raised their point-streaks to three games in the contest, which puts Nesdill one game behind his career-long point streak of four games, while Perkin is tied with his career-long mark ... Nesdill is now sixth-nationally in points per game by a defenseman with a 0.90 average ... with his assist in the game, Kevin Schmidt has now tallied a point in 9-of-12 BG games this season ... Schmidt's 1.08 points per game average ranks him second-nationally amongst defenseman behind only Providence's Matt Taormina (1.14) ... Friday's loss was the first game one loss in a CCHA series for the Falcons this season, as they came in a perfect 2-0 ... the Wolverines' first period goal was just the sixth this season scored on the Falcons in the opening period.
