Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
Lake Superior State
Falcons Hold On To Post Win Over Lake Superior
January 24, 2009 | Ice Hockey
Jan. 24, 2009
Final Stats |
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BOWLING GREEN, OHIO - The Bowling Green State University hockey team had two two-goal leads against Lake Superior Friday night at the BGSU Ice Arena, but had to hold off the Lakers to post a 4-3 victory.
The Falcons, who have now won four of their last seven games - their best streak of the season, scored the only goal of a first period that saw each team manage only four shots on goal. Junior Tommy Dee and his linemates, sophomore Patrick Tiesling and junior Josh Boyd teamed up to get the Falcons on the board at the 1:29 mark. Tiesling and Boyd sent passes up the boards on the bench side of the ice finding Dee racing in alone on Laker goalie Brian Mahoney-Wilson who he beat to the blocker side with a backhander. It was Dee's fourth goal of the season, all in the last eight games.
Junior James Perkin gave BG a 2-0 lead at the 12:02 mark of the middle period after sophomore Andrew Krelove sent a pass along the boards behind the net to junior Kai Kantola who in turn passed the puck out from behind the net and found Perkin between the circles in front of Mahoney-Wilson. It was Perkin's fourth goal of the season.
But, Lake Superior would dominate the rest of the second period and before it was over, they had tied the game.
LSSU scored just a little more than two minutes apart in the second stanza getting even-strength goals at 14:18 and 16:56. Lake Superior had a 19-9 edge in shots on goal in the period.
Even though the Falcons failed to convert on a power-play to start the third period, a few minutes later sophomore Dan Sexton found senior Brandon Svendsen alone in front and he knocked home his seventh of the season, on the power-play, to put the Falcons ahead for good at the 7:35 mark.
The Falcons got some breathing room that they would need later in the period when junior captain Kyle Page found the back of the net at the 11:10 mark from Sexton and sophomore David Solway. That would turn out to be the game winner when Lake Superior scored a power-play tally at the 13:14 mark to make things interesting down the stretch.
Lake Superior played most of the last 90 seconds with an extra attacker on for Mahoney-Wilson who was pulled. But the Falcons were able to thwart all Laker challenges to earn win number six in Central Collegiate Hockey Association play.
BG senior goalie Jimmy Spratt, coming off a weekend in which he allowed only one goal to sixth-ranked Michigan in the two games, was strong in goal again making 31 saves. Mahoney-Wilson was credited with 16 stops.
Both teams were one-for four on the power-play with Lake Superior killing off a five-minute penalty late in the first period to keep things close going into the second period. Lake Superior had a 34-20 edge in shots for the game. It was the first time in five home games this season that the Falcons were outshot but were able to pull out the victory.
The Falcons, now 5-4 in one-goal games this season, improved to 9-13-3 overall and 6-10-1-0 in the CCHA while Lake Superior is now 6-11-8 overall and 3-8-6-1 in league action. LSSU, who captured four of the possible five points in the earlier series with Bowling Green this season, came into the weekend two points in front of the Falcons in eighth place.
The two teams will play again Saturday with the opening face-off scheduled for 7:08 p.m. with the game broadcast by Comcast Television and airing live on the NHL Network in Canada.
head coach Scott Paluch "This was the type of game that down the stretch is really important. It really was reduced to a 20-minute hockey game. On a night when it was difficult for us to create a lot of offense, we hung in there and managed to make the plays down the stretch both offensively and defensively to earn two real big points."
(on the play of the Tiesling, Boyd, Dee line) "That's the type of game where they are a real factor. Tommy Dee had some great wheels from the start, and Josh and Tiesling were real dependable. When you get in that grind, and you need a lot of tough plays to win hockey games. They are right there."
(on the play of goalie Jimmy Spratt) "Jimmy was very good. He saw a lot of pucks. He did a great job through traffic. Down the stretch he was calm when the pucks were around the crease and did a good job."
"We're even with Lake State (in the CCHA standings). So tomorrow we will decide who's coming out of the weekend in front."
