Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
Michigan
Petruska, Falcons Score Late To Down #9 Michigan, 3-2
February 09, 2007 | Ice Hockey
Feb. 9, 2007
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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Freshman Tomas Petruska recorded the first-power play goal of his career with just 35 seconds remaining in Friday night's contest with the Michigan Wolverines, to capture a 3-2 win inside the BGSU Ice Arena. Sophomore Jimmy Spratt was also outstanding, stopping all but two of Michigan's 31 shots on the night.
"It's simple, I just shot and it went in," said Petruska. On the power play we were having some tough times with it in the game, but all we have to do is just crash the net and shoot the puck. I didn't have much of a choice. The puck landed on my stick and I just shot it."
Prior to the Petruska tally, Brandon Svendsen and Kai Kantola skated in on UM's Billy Sauer, causing the Wolverines to jump off the bench a bit early, getting called for an obvious too-many men on the ice penalty at 18:52.
Jonathan Matsumoto and Derek Whitmore assisted on Petruska's eighth goal of the season, which gave the Falcons their second-straight home win over the Wolverines, while also snapping a ten-game winless streak.
Chad Kolarik spotted the Wolverines an early 1-0 lead just 1:14 into the game as the Falcons turned the puck over on their power play. It was the fifth short-handed goal this season allowed by the Orange and Brown.
Kevin Schmidt answered seven minutes later, scoring his third goal of the season. James Unger passed the puck forward to a streaking John Mazzei down the right side. Mazzei slid the puck back to Unger between the circles, who fed Schmidt for the wrister, and a 1-1 tie.
UM once again took a one-goal advantage after David Rohlfs scored on a back-door play seven minutes into the second period, the only goal of the middle stanza. Not that the Falcons didn't have several outstanding scoring chances.
Jonathan Matsumoto, who finished the night with six shots, had two point-blank opportunities mid-way through the second, but Sauer stood on his head to keep the 2-1 advantage.
Not to mention, Tommy Dee rang a puck of the left post at the 3:44 mark of the second, a shot that nearly everyone in the building thought went in.
The highlight of the night may have come very late in the second period. Sophomore Brandon Svendsen had a breakaway opportunity with just 20 seconds left on the clock, but once again Sauer was their to make the save and kick the puck forward to Brandon Naurato. The sophomore had a breakaway of his own just seconds later, but Spratt flashed the leather, wowing the 3,341 in attendance.
The Falcons continued to look for the equalizer entering the third, with no better opportunity than the one that came five minutes into the final period. Kantola and Mazzei had a 2-on-1 where Kantola passed across ice to Mazzei, back to Kantola, who spun and fired the shot off Sauer's stick. Sauer was able to make the save, lying on his stomach, but in the process, kicked the rebound directly to Mazzei. With Sauer still lying on his stomach Mazzei fired a shot towards the back of the net, but the sophomore netminder was able to make the save with the back of his head and send the puck into the student section.
Spratt's excellent play allowed the Falcons to stay with-in that all-important one goal, robbing Andrew Cogliano just seconds after BGSU completed a power play mid-way through the third.
"It only showed tonight, but we have played so hard these last few weeks," said Spratt. Finally, we bared down on our couple goals."
The Falcons' hard work finally paid off as Matsumoto, Petruska and Whitmore connected on a tic-tac-toe play, resulting in Whitmore's team-leading 13th goal of the season at 13:25.
Six minutes later Petruska grabbed a rebound and lifted it in the top-left corner on the UM cage for the Falcons 3-2 min, their first win over a ranked team since last Jan. 21, in a 5-2 win over these same Wolverines. It was also the Falcons' first win this season, trailing after two periods.
"I am very proud of our guys and their effort," said BGSU head coach Scott Paluch. "I think it's so important that our team was able to feel the award for a real strong performance. Obviously it's been difficult this season to earn the points and the rewards. I am most pleased because in every asset we earned this win."
On the night BGSU out-shot the Wolverines 35-31. Spratt made 29 saves, while Sauer had 32 in the loss.
The Falcons were 1-for-4 with the man advantage and UM went scoreless on three attempts.
Up next for the Orange and Brown is a trip to Big Rapids, Michigan for a two-game series (Feb. 16-17) with the Bulldogs of Ferris State. Friday's action begins at 7:05 p.m., while Saturday's contest starts at 5:05 p.m.
