Friday, October 30
Omaha, Neb.
8:35 PM
Bowling Green State University
3
at
3
Nebraska Omaha
Falcon Hockey Update: Controversy at Qwest
October 31, 2009 | Ice Hockey
OMAHA, Neb. - Friday night marked the beginning of the CCHA regular season for the Bowling Green Falcons and game one would take them to Qwest Center Omaha in a battle with the Mavericks of Nebraska Omaha.
The stage was set with flashy spotlights, inflatable tunnels and 7,152 screaming fans for both sides. The introduction created a thrilling atmosphere to start the game but could not compare to the game's conclusion.
The first period was full of thrilling saves and penetrating offense as the Brown and Orange took the ice with the Red and White. Faced with thirteen first-period shots, freshman goaltender Andrew Hammond was tested early and often as the Maverick offense went relentlessly towards the BG net. Three minutes into the contest, UNO sophomore defenseman Kyle Ensign missed on a pass that cross the crease in front of Hammond marking one of many missed opportunities the Mavericks would surrender in the first period.
Bowling Green's Josh Boyd (Sr., F) would take the Falcon's first shot of the contest only to be saved by UNO redshirt-freshman goalie, John Faulkner. On the first power play of the evening, Bowling Green would go on the offensive and crash the net quickly. Senior Kai Kantola took his position out in front of the net, but could not handle the James Perkin pass to put it home. After the Mavericks twice clear the puck out of their own zone, BG would have one of their two power play chances killed.
Perhaps one of Hammond's earliest highlight-reel saves occurred on a four-on-four opportunity following back-to-back penalties. With three men falling in front of Hammond, the freshman snagged a shot heading straight for the corner of the net with his glove, saving what seemed to be a sure goal for the Mavericks. With 13 saves in the first period alone, Hammond and the Falcons would take a scoreless game into the second frame.
The pace did not slow in the game at the start of the second period as the Mavericks fired two quick shots at Hammond to continue the fast paced trend. Hammond would save them both before the Falcons would go on the power play for the third time of the evening at the 10:17 mark.
Senior forward David Solway would lead the charge as the Falcons wasted no time to crash the cage in an attempt to score on another power play chance. After traffic in front of the net caught Faulkner out of position, Solway attempted to tap the puck home, yet slipped on his way down and missed wide of the net. UNO would go on to kill the BG power play.
Half way through the thirteenth minute, UNO nearly capitalized on a two-on-one break toward the BG net. Senior Maverick forward Dan Swanson set up junior Joey Martin on the right side of the cage with a perfect pass, but Martin slid the puck wide right of the net.
Shortly after the missed opportunity, BG's Ian Ruel (Fr., D) would be penalized for hooking giving the Mavericks another power play chance. Hammond would stand his ground and make three gorgeous saves before succumbing to the pressures on the endless barrage of UNO shots. From the middle of the blue line, UNO junior defenseman Eric Olimb scored his first goal of the season by slapping a one-timer through the legs of Hammond giving the Mavericks a 1-0 advantage with 13:04 left in the second.
Bowling Green tried to answer the call after UNO's Martin would be called on a goaltender interference penalty, giving the Falcons another power play. Four shots would hit Faulkner in goal, but none would count for scores.
At 13:33, Bowling Green would tie the game at one with a quick score that caught many in Qwest Center Omaha napping. Off of the faceoff, Brian Potacco put a shot toward the cage that initially was saved by Faulkner but trickled under his legs towards the back of the net to barely cross the red line. After video replay confirmed the call on the ice, Brian Potacco would be credited with his first career goal and the score would stand at 1-1.
Less than a minute later, UNO would avenge the goal by taking advantage of an open right side of the cage left vacant by the BGSU defense. Freshman Jerry Freismuth was called for slashing and with a man advantage, All-CCHA selection Eddie DelGrosso passed across the ice to UNO captain Jeric Agosta (Sr., C) who sped the puck past a diving Hammond to give the Mavericks a 2-1 lead with three and a half minutes remaining and took that lead into the second intermission.
The Falcons began the third period on the power play after an Eric Olimb high-sticking call at the end of the second period and would cash in on the man advantage opportunity. Senior Tomas Petruska sent a pass in around the boards that freshman Jordan Samuels-Thomas would scoop up and take hard to the near side corner of the net. Samuels-Thomas won the sprint to the corner and wrapped the puck around the post and through for his first collegiate goal, tying the contest at two apiece. The score would break a steak of 15 power play chances without a goal for the Falcons.
Another Falcon first was to come near the mid-way point of the third period. Crashing the net hard, a swarm of Falcons greeted Faulkner between the circles. Tomas Petruska would take it the length of the ice before setting up freshman Nathan Pageau for his first goal of his Falcon career, tickling the twine for the third BG goal of the night.
Another defensive test for the Falcons came with 3:55 remaining as assistant captain David Solway was called for a slashing penalty, giving the Mavericks one final chance to tie the game up with one man up. 18 would ring one off the far-side post a minute into the UNO power play, and two successful clear outs would kill the Maverick power play with 1:55 remaining.
Coach Blais pulled goaltender Kevin Faulkner with a minute and a half remaining and nearly sealed his own fate, but the Kantola shot sailed wide of the open net, giving the Mavericks a glimmer of hope. With a six-on-five advantage, UNO charged forward and with congestion mounting at the net, Maverick winger Rich Purslow found a hole in the Falcon defense and put the game-tying goal past Hammond with 51 seconds remaining. After the final seconds waned, the game was sent to overtime with a 3-3 score.
The five-minute overtime featured UNO on the offensive for most of the extra frame, though would prove useless as both teams could not put a score on the board. Before the whistle blew, a scuffle at the front of the net would send three players to the penalty box. Samuels-Thomas and UNO's Eddie Del Grosso would be sent to the box for roughing after the whistle, while the Maverick's Matt Ambroz was called for charging. Despite the man advantage for sixteen seconds, Bowling Green could not capitalize and would enter its first official conference shoot out to determine the victor of conference points.
The Mavericks first sent sophomore Alex Hudson to center ice. Trying to go left on Hammond, the freshman net minder followed his man and snagged the puck. Solway would dawn the first Falcon shooter and also came up empty going right on Faulkner. Nebraska-Omaha freshman winger, John Kemp was sent to the ice for round two but also came up short as Hammond again defended the left side successfully.
This is where the controversy would begin. Bowling Green then sent Samuels-Thomas to follow Kemp. Recall that Samuels-Thomas was penalized at the end of the overtime session and still in the box when over time ended. Samuels-Thomas would take his shot, going to Faulkner's left and slid one past the keeper for the eventual winning goal. The Maverick's Purslow took the final shot for UNO, however came up empty as his shot deflected of the pillow of Hammond and slid directly on top of the red goal line, not crossing, resulting in a failed attempt and a preliminary BG shootout victory.
The controversy that ensued would occur after the realization that Samuels-Thomas was a player penalized in overtime participating in the shootout. His game-clinching score is in question due to his being penalized at the end of the overtime period.
The ruling will be reviewed Saturday morning by CCHA officials with a ruling to be administered immediately. As it stands, Bowling Green will be awarded a tie for NCAA records regardless of the decision by league officials with the conference point allotment to be determined following the CCHA official ruling.
Check www.bgsufalcons.com for more information for the official announcement.
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