Bowling Green State University
Lake Superior State
Big Third Period Leads #21 Hockey To, 4-2, Victory At Lake State
January 11, 2008 | Ice Hockey
Jan. 11, 2008
SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. - An early third period goal by senior tri-captain Derek Whitmore broke a, 2-2, tie and helped propel the No. 21 Bowling Green State University hockey team to a, 4-2, victory over Lake Superior State. The Friday night Central Collegiate Hockey Association contest was held at LSSU's Taffy Abel Arena.
With the win, the Falcons improve to 10-9-0 on the season and 7-6-0 in the CCHA, dropping the Lakers to 2-13-4 and 0-10-3, respectively.
"It was a real good road win for us tonight after not getting off to a good start at the beginning of the game," said BG coach Scott Paluch. "I think there's no question that Lake Superior controlled the first period and we finally started to get our offensive zone play back in the second. The guys started moving their feet a little better, we started to get to more pucks, we cycled the puck better and just had more puck possession than we did in the first period. Then in the third period, we made some real nice plays to score the goals after having our character challenged at the beginning of the period when we fell behind. Overall, I'm proud of the effort and I'm proud of the way the guys hung in there."
BG trailed, 1-0, after one, before tying the game at, 1-1, in the second. With the game at, 1-1, after two periods, the Lakers came out and took a, 2-1, lead just 1:35 into the final period. However, three unanswered goals, including Whitmore's game-winner at 7:53 of the third, would guide the Falcons to their quickest 10th-win since the 1998-99 season when they won 10 games in their first 18 contests.
Nine different Falcons tallied points on the night as they were led by a game-high two points from freshman forward Jacob Cepis, who tallied a goal and an assist on the evening. In net, BG got 25 saves from freshman net-minder Nick Eno, who collected his sixth-win of the season.
The win wouldn't be easy to come by though as the Lakers took advantage of a slow first period start by the Falcons to take an early lead. With the extra-man on the ice, thanks to a Falcon penalty just 2:06 in, Laker forward Nathan Perkovic was able to tuck his wrister from the top of the left circle into the upper left corner of the net to give LSSU a 1-0 lead just 2:47 in.
That lead would hold for the Lakers throughout the remainder of the first period as Eno kept the Falcons within one with some big stops throughout the first stanza. Eno made 10 saves in the first 20 minutes as his Falcon teammates were out-shot, 11-2.
BG wouldn't let Eno's play go to waste as in the second period they started to generate more offense and finally broke into the scoring column. With a power play chance just ending for the Falcons, Kevin Schmidt was able to keep the puck in the Laker zone, where he found John Mazzei behind the net. Mazzei proceeded to make a nice one-time pass then to Cepis who was cutting to the net from the right-wing circle. Cepis took Mazzei's pass and buried the one-time to tie the game at, 1-1, with 4:58 to play in the period.
Cepis' goal was part of a Falcon offensive charge that saw BG out-shoot the Lakers, 15-6 in the second stanza.
Just when it looked like momentum had shifted from the LSSU side to the BG side, the Lakers struck quick in the game's final 20 minutes to re-take the lead at, 2-1. Centerman Pat Aubry's 2-on-1 shot trickled into the net past Eno on the play as John Scrymgeour and Chad Nehring added the helpers.
LSSU seemed to be in good position to pick up their first league win of the season, but the Falcons wouldn't quit. BG would record six shots in the game's final period and would find the net on three of them in a 4:34 span to break the game open.
The first marker would come from freshman David Solway at 6:51. Solway's shot from the left-wing circle found net on the right past Inglis with Cepis and senior defenseman Mike Nesdill picking up the assists.
Whitmore's game-winner would be the second of the trio just 1:02 later. His shot from the left side of the crease found the net on a 2-on-1 with freshman Dan Sexton who drew the assist when his crossing pass from the right-wing circle found Whitmore's tape. Junior forward Brandon Svendsen would then end the game's scoring at the 11:25 mark as James Perkin tallied the helper.
BG ended with 23 shots on goal as Inglis finished with 19 saves. The Falcons were out-shot, 27-23, for the evening as they were held scoreless on three power play opportunities. LSSU would finish 1-for-4.
The two teams will return to action Saturday (Jan. 12) when they conclude their two-game set with a 5:05 p.m. faceoff. All the action can be heard once again by tuning into WBGU 88.1 FM as Danny Nieves will bring you all the play-by-play.
NOTES:The win for BG was just their second in the last seven games played in the series at Taffy Abel Arena ... the win also just the second this season for BG when their opponent scores first as they are 2-7-0 on the year when that occurs ... BG is 7-0-0 this season when scoring four or more goals ... Derek Whitmore's game-winning goal was the 57th of his career as he now stands just 11 goals short of being tied for 19th on the all-time BGSU goal scoring list ... with 15 more points, Whitmore will also be just the 69th player in BG history to score 100 points in his career ... Mike Nesdill's assist gives him nine points in his last nine games, which includes two goals and seven assists ... Jacob Cepis now has 10 points (7-3-10) in his last eight contests ... BG is now 5-1-0 in game one of a two-game CCHA series.
