Falcons Score In Pairs; Earn 4-3 Win Over Clarkson at The Classic

Sunday, January 3

Minneapolis, Minn.

4:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Clarkson

Senior Josh Boyd scored the game-winning goal in Bowling Green's 4-3 victory over Clarkson Sunday afternoon.

Falcons Score In Pairs; Earn 4-3 Win Over Clarkson at The Classic

January 03, 2010 | Ice Hockey

By: by Ryan Gasser, Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant

Box score

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -- Following their 3-1 loss to the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Saturday, the Bowling Green Falcons looked to rebound and take a win away from the Land of 10,000 Lakes in the consolation game of the Dodge Holiday Classic. Standing in the way of that feat were the Clarkson Golden Knights, led by a familiar face to Falcon fans reminiscent of the 1983-84 championship team, head coach George Roll. However, there would be special treatment for any former Falcon as Bowling Green battled towards a 4-3 victory over Roll's Golden Knights on Sunday afternoon.

For the second straight contest, the Falcons lit the lamp first when Clarkson goaltender Richie LaVeau surrendered the first Falcon goal of the opening period at 9:17. LaVeau could not corral senior Kai Kantola's initial shot on goal before he picked up his own rebound out in front of the open net and slammed home his second goal of the season giving Bowling Green a 1-0 lead early. Ian Ruel was credited with the solo helper on the tally.

Keeping the momentum on their side, the Falcons kept a steady stream of offense on the Knights and would eventually lead to Bowling Green doubling their lead on Clarkson on sophomore Brennan Vargas' first collegiate goal of his career. In the 14th minute of the first period, the Falcons made a move down the ice when Kyle Page (Sr., D) put a shot on goal from the far point with LaVeau making the save on the shot. The rebound went straight to Vargas' stick to be redirected to the back of the Golden Knight cage giving the Falcons a 2-0 lead that was taken into the locker room following a period of play.

The Falcons' two goals in the first period marks only the second time they have scored twice in the opening period this year. The only other time they had done so was on Oct. 23 when the Falcons opened the game with a pair of goal versus Providence at home. It was also the sixth time this season the Falcons scored two or more goals in a period with the last time coming Nov. 28 when Bowling Green did so twice against Notre Dame.

Just before the turn of the seventh minute into the second period, Clarkson halved the lead when a Bowling Green special teams breakdown led to a short-handed goal scored by the Golden Knights. Knight forward Matt Beca benefitted from a rebound off a shot by teammate Louke Oakley that bounced out freely to the far side of the ice. Following a three-on-one odd man rush, Oakley's shot bounced out to the far side of the ice following a Nick Eno (Jr., G) save when the team leader in goals scored, Beca, put a one-timer on the Falcon net for his ninth goal of the season.

The Knights were not finished with the Falcons in the second period when the Green and Gold tied up the game at two with their second unanswered goal. Clarkson captain Scott Freeman (Jr., F) nodded it up following a Bowling Green turnover near the blue line that Corey Tamblyn and Beca would toss out in front of the Falcon net where Freeman was waiting for a backhand attempt on Eno that sounded the horn for the Knights. Despite a late period rush by Clarkson, the Falcons left the ice after the second period with a 2-2 tie game.

With the energy having switched sides during the course of the second period, it took one power play to create another shift of momentum and put it back on the Falcon bench. Clarkson forward Corey Tamblyn was penalized for interference at 11:44 in the third period giving the Falcons their fourth power play chance of the evening. On their first shot attempt of the man advantage, Kyle Page (Sr.,F) took a slap shot on the center of blue line in front of the Clarkson cage that zipped past LaVeau for the go-ahead goal and a 3-2 lead with 7:34 left to play. Page's goal was his second of the season and came from the helping hands of James Perkin (Sr., F) and David Solway (Jr., F). With the assist, Perkin posts points in consecutive games for the second time this season.

The theme of the evening apparently was that goals come in pairs when senior forward Josh Boyd scored what seemed to be a meaningless empty-net goal, but would prove to be the eventual game-winner. The empty netter was the first such goal for the Falcons and would be essential towards the Falcon win.

After the Knights took a time out following the empty-net goal, the Clarkson offense made a respectable run toward the BGSU cage and successfully screened out Eno to have a clear shot at the Falcon net. Stationed amongst a host of skaters from both teams, Clarkson forward Bryan Rufenach caught a pass in front of the crease and back-handed one past the junior goaltender to cut the lead to one goal with less than nine seconds remaining on the clock. Though the charge drew the Knights closer in the scoring column, it would not bring them a win after Bowling Green won the ensuing faceoff and poked the puck away long enough for the final horn to sound signaling a 4-3 Falcon win.

With the win, the Falcons break a five game losing streak and win their first game in regulation since Bowling Green's win in Ann Arbor over the University of Michigan on Nov. 20, 2009. The Falcons four goals are the most the team has scored since their Nov. 28 shoot out win over Notre Dame that ended in a 4-4 tie in regulation.

Bowling Green was outshot by Clarkson 26-21 in the contest but fared better on the power play going 1-for-4 while shutting out the Golden Knights in their four chances. Despite being outshot and held to 21 shots, the Falcons three wins all have come with 21 or fewer shots on goal.

With the win in the consolation game, the Falcon seniors also take home their first win in the first weekend of play following the holiday break in eight career games. They also help the Falcon program improve to 3-6-0 all-time in the Dodge Holiday Classic (formerly known as the Mariucci Classic).

Roll, who played under former head coach Jerry York during the 1983-84 National Championship run, has now fallen three consecutive times to his alma mater after the Falcons swept the Knights last season 4-1 and 3-1 at the BGSU Ice Arena. The win also ties the all-time series between Clarkson and Bowling Green at 13-13-1, dating back to 1970 when the teams first met.

Bowling Green will now take their 2-15-2 overall record to Columbus, Ohio as they resume conference play with the Ohio State Buckeyes (7-12-1, 5-8-1-1) this weekend. Game time on Friday, Jan. 8 is set for 7:05 p.m. Saturday, the series will conclude with another 7:05 p.m. start.