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Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
MICHIGAN STATE
Late Goals Give Spartans 6-3 Win Over Falcons Friday Night In East Lansing
February 29, 2008 | Ice Hockey
Feb. 29, 2008
EAST LANSING, Mich. - A late third period goal by Michigan State forward Justin Abdelkader at the 17:41 mark helped lift the Spartans to a 6-3 victory Friday night over the Bowling Green State University hockey team. The Friday evening Central Collegiate Hockey Association contest was held at MSU's Munn Ice Arena.
With the victory, the Spartans improved to 22-9-5 overall and 18-6-3 in the CCHA, dropping the Falcons to 16-17-0 and 13-14-0, respectively.
The game-winning goal by Abdelkader came with just 2:19 remaining on the third period clock with the game all tied up at 3-3. His shot from the right-wing circle barely found the net at the top right corner as the goal had to be reviewed upstairs. For Abdelkader it was his second of what would eventually be a hat trick on the evening as he would later add an empty-net goal, following another late goal by Spartan forward Tim Kennedy at the 18:03 mark.
For the Falcons, it was their third-straight Friday loss as they fell just one regular-season road win short of 10 on the year, falling to 9-9 overall in games away from the BGSU Ice Arena.
BG was led on the night by two-point efforts from sophomore forward Tomas Petruska and junior defenseman Kevin Schmidt. Petruska tallied a goal and an assist on the night, while Schmidt collected two helpers. Freshman goaltender Nick Eno finished his night with 30 saves in net on 35 Spartan shots.
"I thought we battled extremely hard tonight for all 60 minutes of the game," said BG coach Scott Paluch. "Unfortunately for us, Michigan State just made two great plays in the game's final three minutes and we didn't. I was happy though with the contributions we were able to get on the night from players we needed to have come through for us, but despite the good play we got down low in the offensive zone, we just couldn't get the plays we needed to turn the game in our favor."
It wouldn't take long for MSU to register the game's first lead as defenseman Jeff Petry was able to get loose in the slot just 1:02 into the contest. Petry took a pass from Corey Tropp and buried a hard-wrister into the top left corner past Eno for his third goal of the season with Tropp getting the lone helper.
BG went on to hold a 15-11 edge in first period shots as some big stops by MSU goaltender Jeff Lerg kept the Falcons off the board.
Matt Schepke would add to the Spartans lead at 6:23 of the second period when tallied his 11th goal of the season off a rebound in front. After MSU got an odd-man rush down the ice, Schepke followed up an initial shot on net by Tropp, poking it past Eno of the left side of the crease. Tropp would get credited with his second assist of the evening on Schepke's 11th of the season.
However, the two-goal lead wouldn't last long as the Falcons would finally solve Lerg just 43 seconds after Schepke's goal gave MSU a 2-0 edge. Freshman forward Jacob Cepis took a pass from Schmidt and raced up the ice past everyone in green and white, before firing a hard slapshot right on net from the slot after wrapping around the net. His shot beat Lerg low on the right side for the Parma, Ohio native's 13th goal of the season as Schmidt picked up his 18th helper on the play at 7:06.
BG evened the game up then just 2:38 later when Petruska picked up his first goal in seven games and fourth of the season at the 9:44 mark. Schmidt once again was credited with an assist as he fed John Mazzei with a nice pass, who's shot was re-directed by Petruska in front past Lerg to even the game up at 2-2.
The Spartans re-took the lead late in the second period with just 3:44 remaining until the second intermission. Abdelkader picked up his first goal of the night on the play at 16:16 as his slapshot from the right circle found net on the left side of the Falcon cage. Petry and Daniel Vukovic assisted on the go-ahead marker as the Spartans held a 15-7 edge in the period in shots on net.
Todd McIlrath got BG back in the game at the 12:50 mark of the third period as the Falcons evened the game up for the second time, but it wouldn't be enough.
Despite chances late in the game to grab a lead on the power play, Lerg came up with some big stops, ending his night with 28 saves on 31 Falcon shots.
MSU held an overall 35-31 lead in the final shots as both squads finished 0-for-3 on the night with the man-advantage.
The same two teams will return to the ice tomorrow evening for a 7:35 p.m. faceoff at the BGSU Ice Arena. It'll be Senior Night for the Falcons' five seniors who'll be playing in their final regular-season home games. The evening will also feature a fund raising benefit for Falcon alum Ty Eigner and his son Peter, who suffers from Neuroblastoma. A silent auction will take place, along with all the evening's chuck-a-puck proceipts going to the family. All the action from Senior Night can be heard by tuning into WBGU 88.1 FM with Danny Nieves and Bob Mills bringing you all the play-by-play.
NOTES:With Friday's loss, the Falcons dropped to 8-5-0 on the season in Friday CCHA games after once owning an 8-2-0 mark ... Friday night's loss was also just the fourth for the Falcons when recording 30 or more shots ... a win for the Falcons at home tomorrow night would mark the third-straight win on a Saturday and would be the seventh time in-a-row that the two teams have split a two-game set in the past six seasons ... Kevin Schmidt's 23 points are just three points shy of tying former defenseman Grady Moore's 26, which were the most scored by a Falcon defenseman in the past decade ... John Mazzei's second period assist gives the senior tri-captain seven points (6-1-7) in his last 11 contests ... Nick Eno's 30-save performance marked the fifth time in his last seven starts that he has made 30 or more saves.
