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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
Nebraska Omaha
Mavericks Clip Falcon Hockey, 5-3, Friday Night In Omaha
February 16, 2008 | Ice Hockey
Feb. 16, 2008
OMAHA, Neb. - A late third period power play goal by Brandon Scero helped lift the University of Nebraska at Omaha to a 5-3 win on Friday over the Bowling Green State University hockey team. The Friday night Central Collegiate Hockey Association tilt was held at the Civic Auditorium in downtown Omaha.
With the victory, the Mavericks improved to 14-13-4 overall and 11-10-4 in the CCHA, dropping the Falcons to 14-15-0 and 11-12-0, respectively.
With the game tied up at, 3-3, with 6:34 remaining in the final period, Scero tipped in a slapshot from Ed Del Grosso with the extra-man advantage to give UNO a 4-3 lead. UNO would seal the final score then with just 25 seconds showing on the clock with an empty-net goal from J.J. Koehler as the Falcons fell for the second game in-a-row and for just the third time in game one of a two-game CCHA series.
Leading the way on the night for BG was Derek Whitmore and Dan Sexton who each had a team-high two points on a goal and an assist. Junior goaltender Jimmy Spratt then made 22 saves on 27 Maverick shots on the night in front of the Falcon cage.
The Mavericks were led on the night by a game-high four points from Scero, who had a goal and three assists. Ed Del Grosso, Tomas Klempa and Mick Lawrence all added two apiece.
UNO struck first on the night when Dan Charleston knocked home a rebound on the right side of the BG crease off a shot from Lawrence from the left-wing circle. Scero picked up the second assist on the goal at 12:01 as Charleston picked up his 11th goal of the season.
The Falcons wouldn't let the Mavericks get comfortable in front though as Whitmore struck for the 24th time this season just 2:54 later on the Falcon power play. The senior tri-captain was in perfect position on the right side of UNO goaltender Jerad Kaufmann as he picked up the rebound just outside the crease and put it over the netminder's pad for his 11th goal in 11 contests. Collecting helpers on the play were Tomas Petruska and Sexton.
UNO finished the first period with an 11-4 edge in shots as Spratt made 10 first period stops to keep his team in the game.
With Spratt playing well in net, BG tried to steal control of the game's momentum in the early part of the second stanza. That was where senior tri-captain John Mazzei gave his team their first lead of the contest when he tallied his fourth goal of the season just 2:39 into the period. The Kelowna, B.C. native's shot from the right circle found the net low on Kaufmann as he was setup nicely by freshman forward Patrick Tiesling who picked up the first assist. Also assisting on Mazzei's goal was Mike Nesdill who was credited for his 12th assist of the season.
UNO would go on to tie the game up at, 2-2, at the 7:15 mark on a goal by Joey Martin, before Klempa gave them a 3-2 edge on the Maverick power play. With the Falcons down two skaters, Klempa got some space on the left side of Spratt around the crease and tapped in a rebound from Scero for a 5-on-3 power-play marker. Del Grosso also added an assist.
The Falcons wouldn't give in and would fight back to tie the game up once again at, 3-3, with just 21 seconds remaining until the second intermission. With the extra-attacker, Jacob Cepis found Whitmore, who found Sexton all by himself from behind the net on the left side of Kaufmann. The Apple Valley, Minn. native took the pass and proceeded to pick the near side corner of the net with a nice wrister as the Falcons struck for the second time with the man-advantage on the night and Sexton collected his seventh goal of the season.
BG held the advantage in shots for the second 20 minutes, firing eight at the Mavericks to just six being fired at Spratt.
The third period would see the Falcons get numerous chances to take the lead or tie the game late after Del Grosso's game-winning goal. With just minutes remaining, Whitmore would be drug down from behind on a breakaway to the UNO net that setup the final BG power play. That was shortly followed by another quality scoring chance by Todd McIlrath to tie the game on a point blank shot in front with just 1:40 remaining.
However, Kaufmann wouldn't let any of the Falcons' 10 third period shots get by as he ended his night with 19 saves on 22 BG shots.
The Falcons finished 2-for-6 with the man-advantage, while the Mavericks finished 2-for-7.
These same two squads will finish their two-game set on Saturday night with the first puck set to drop once again at 8:05 p.m. You can catch all the game's action by tuning into WBGU 88.1 FM as Danny Nieves will bring you all the play-by-play.
