Falcons Lose Third Period Lead in OT Loss to Buckeyes

Friday, December 10

Bowling Green, Ohio

7:05 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

Ohio State

Bowling Green (5-11-2, 2-9-2) lost a two-goal lead in the third period and a 4-3 decision in overtime to Ohio State, Friday night.

December 10, 2010 | Ice Hockey

By: by Ryan Gasser, Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -- For the third consecutive game, Bowling Green Hockey took a 1-0 lead into the third period of a game, but could not convert it into a win. The Falcons jumped out to a two-goal lead into the early part of the third period of Friday night's game with the Ohio State Buckeyes. However, the Falcons have lost their third period lead, this time costing them the game. The Buckeyes came from behind with three goals in the final period of regulation to tie the game and then defeat Bowling Green in the final 90 seconds of overtime, 4-3.

Box score (.html) | Box score (.pdf) | Updated statistics (.html)
Post game audio (.mp3) -- Chris Bergeron | David Solway
Post game video -- click here

Wade Finegan (Toronto, Ontario) lifted the crowd off their feet with a spectacular goal on a breakaway up the ice late in the first period. After taking a cross-ice pass from Cameron Sinclair (Windsor, Ontario), Finegan skated hard toward the net and stopped on a dime to fake out his defender tailing him. While absorbing a hit, the senior got a good piece of stick on the puck and beat Ohio State goaltender Cal Heeter over his left should to get the Falcons on the board.

It took nearly 24 minutes of play on the ice to seek another goal to be scored. After a scoreless second period Brett Mohler (Yorba Linda, Calif.) added to the Falcon lead later in the third when camping out near the far post of the Buckeye cage he put a shot on that caught a piece of the Ohio State goaltender. Hetter did not corrale the rebound and the puck slid between his legs and just over the goal line to put the Falcons up 2-0 in at the five-minute mark of the third period.

Ohio State raced back into the game with three unanswered goal within 6:05 of one another. Ohio State's first goal came off of a turnover from the far corner of the Bowling Green zone. After a race for the puck in the corner, Max Grover (Kentwood, Mich.) tried to get the puck out of the corner but his pass was intercepted by OSU's John Albert. From the top of the slot, Albert put a shot on that beat Bowling Green goaltender, Nick Eno (Howell, Mich.) and brought the Buckeyes within one goal of the Falcons.

Ohio State tied the game with a unlucky bounce of the puck following a shot from Buckeye defenseman, Sean Duddy. After Duddy's shot from just inside the blue line was saved by Eno, the loose puck off of the rebound hit off the skate of a BGSU Falcon just outside of their own crease and made its way into the cage. The goal tied the game and was Duddy's first goal of the season.

Sergio Somma gave the Buckeyes the lead with a tip-in on the near post off of a shot initially taken by Danny Dries directly off of a faceoff. With a 3-2 lead, Ohio States shifted the momentum of the game only for BGSU to rally back.

James McIntosh (Holland Landing, Ontario) tied the game up at three goals apiece when from the top of the slot he lofted a shot that was tipped by an Ohio State defender out in front of the net. The tip made it's way through traffic and hit the back of the cage for a BGSU power-play goal. The McIntosh goal from David Solway (Green Bay, Wisc.) and Jordan Samuels-Thomas (South Windsor, Conn.) was notched at 17:16 of the third period.

It appeared as if for the third straight game the Falcons would send their match into a shootout, but the Buckeyes ended that notion at 3:54 when while on a power play enduced by Bowling Green being called for too many men on the ice, Danny Dries ended the game with a top-shelf score on Falcon goaltender Nick Eno.

Eno finished the night with 26 saves on the evening and went through two periods of shut out hockey before surrendering three third period scores and the overtime game-winner to Dries. Solway put two points on his resume with a pair of assists on the evening.

Similarly to Bowling Green's game last Saturday against Lake Superior, the Falcons saw most of their opposition's shots during the third period. Ohio State finished with 30 shots on goal for the night, but 14 were taken in the third period alone.

With McIntosh's goal late in the third period, the Falcons have now scored a power-play goal in five straight games extending a season high streak. On the penalty kill, Bowling Green's streak of consecutive power plays was snapped at 15 when the Buckeyes scored their first of two power-play goals. Ohio State went 2-for-7 on the night on the power play while Bowling Green went 1-for-8 on the night.

In the loss, Bobby Shea (Harrison Township, Mich.) was moved from defense to a forward position. It was his first appearance in his entire playing career serving as a forward. He finished the night with two shots on goal, two penalties for four PIM and a minus-one on-ice rating.

Bowling Green (6-11-2, 2-9-2-0) will take the ice against Ohio State again on Saturday, Dec. 11, inside the BGSU Ice Arena at 7:05 p.m. to try to even the score.