Bowling Green State University
OHIO STATE
Falcons Drop Hard-Fought 5-4 Decision To Ohio State
March 06, 2009 | Ice Hockey
March 6, 2009
COLUMBUS, OHIO - The Bowling Green State University hockey team did everything but win the game Friday night in Columbus, Ohio against Ohio State in the first game of their first round Central Collegiate Hockey Association best-of-three series. They probably had the territorial edge and the puck advantage edge over the fifth-seeded Buckeyes, but they could never take the lead in a game that featured two ties in the first 40 minutes and was a 2-all contest entering a wild third period.
In the end, Ohio State earned a 5-4 victory to take a 1-0 edge in the series.
BG controlled play early and had some good scoring chances, but Ohio State got the first goal on a shot from the circle to the right of BG senior goalie Jimmy Spratt that was tipped in front at the 13:30 mark. BG, as they did all night, fought back to even the score on freshman Nick Bailen's goal as he took the puck at center ice and cut to the boards opposite the benches where his slap shot from just inside the circle to the left of Buckeye sophomore goalie Dustin Carlson found the back of the net. Bailen's fifth of the season came at the 18:27 mark of the opening period with junior Kai Kantola drawing the assist.
In the second period it was much of the same as the Buckeyes took the advantage on a tally at 11:30 before the Falcons evened things up on an unassisted tally from junior Tommy Dee at 15:39. Dee stole the puck at the blue line and his backhand shot from the left of Carlson sent the teams to the locker room for the final 20 minutes tied at 2. It was Dee's sixth red-lighter of the season.
The teams combined for five goals in the final period with OSU seemingly taking control by scoring the first two, just over two minutes apart early in the stanza. OSU got goals from sophomores Chris Reed at 3:14 and Peter Boyd at 5:18.
The Falcons, the 12th-seed in the conference tournament, battled back to cut the deficit in half just 34 seconds after the Buckeyes had built the two-goal advantage. Sophomore Dan Sexton scored his 12th of the season as he picked up the puck behind the net and beat Carlson to the opposite side of the net. Junior captain Kyle Page and Bailen picked up the assists on the play.
Then the biggest play of the game occurred with the Falcons putting some strong offensive pressure on the Buckeyes.
BG looked as if they had pulled even with the home team at the 12:16 mark as junior Kai Kantola poked in the puck in a scramble in front of the net. But, after a review, the goal was disallowed with officials saying the net came off its moorings before the goal was scored.
Boyd scored his second of the game for Ohio State at the 14:23 mark to make it a two-goal game again. The Falcons gave themselves a chance by scoring with just over five minutes left as Dee found the back of the net at the 14:50 mark for the first two-goal game of his career, and the first two-point contest in his two-plus seasons in the program. Sophomore defenseman Andrew Krelove and junior Josh Boyd earned the assists on the play.
The Falcons, who came into the series against Ohio State looking to put an end to a seven-game road losing streak and a 12-game road losing skid in the CCHA playoffs, had several scoring opportunities in the final minutes, but could not force the third tie of the game and an extra period.
Spratt was credited with 24 saves while Carlson had 32 stops. It was the most goals allowed by Spratt since he allowed six to the Buckeyes on Jan. 9. He had limited nine of his last 11 opponents to three goals or fewer.
Neither team scored with the man-advantage, Bowling Green in four tries and the Buckeyes had two opportunities. BG had a five-minute power-play in the second period after OSU freshman Ian Boots was whistled for hitting from behind. But, BG was whistled for two penalties during the five-minute major and committed a penalty 1:18 before the five-minute penalty that cut BG's advantage time to only one minute.
The Falcons are now 11-23-3 this season while the Buckeyes improved to 21-12-4. To send the series to a third game, which would begin at 5:05 p.m. on Sunday, the Falcons would need to put an end to a three-game losing streak Saturday night. Tomorrow's (Saturday) game begins at 7:05 at the OSU Ice Rink.
BGSU head coach Scott Paluch
"It was a physical, up-tempo game that when it was all said and done, they got the extra goal. I thought our guys worked extremely hard and stayed with it all the way through."
(on was the game he expected) "The game went exactly the way we expected. Both teams were quick on pucks. I liked the way our team battled and won some pucks."
"We're disappointed because I thought our guys, for the 60 minutes, did a lot of the things we talked about during the week that were going to be necessary to win. That's hockey. You can do a lot of things right, there is no guarantees in the game."
(on the results from the line changes) "We wanted to get a little more depth in shooting, and I think we got that. We tried to get the guys who were consistent scorers all season, on a couple of line. For a majority of the night I thought it paid off."
