Falcon "D" Earns "W" Over Lake Superior

Saturday, January 29

Bowling Green, Ohio

7:05 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

Lake Superior State

January 29, 2011 | Ice Hockey

BGSU ends a five-game losing streak with a 2-1 win over LSSU, Saturday night.

By: by Ryan Gasser, Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio -- An early two-goal lead accompanied with a solid defensive effort and strong goaltending helped the Bowling Green Falcon hockey team win their first conference game since November on Saturday night. The Falcons defeated the Lake Superior Lakers at the BGSU Ice Arena, 2-1, behind Andrew Hammond's 24-save performance on “Pack the House Night”.

Box score (.html) | Box score (.pdf) | Updated Statistics (.html)
Press conference video with Andrew Hammond and Chris Bergeron -- click here
Press conference audio -- Andrew Hammond | Chris Bergeron

For the third straight game, BGSU scored the opening goal. Ian Ruel (Ann Arbor, Mich.) scored his second goal of the season inside of the final minute of the first period when off the draw, the sophomore defenseman put a shot through traffic from the faceoff circle in front of the BGSU student section. The low liner found its way through multiple bodies and just inside the near post and beyond the outstretch pad of Laker goaltender Kevin Kapalka. The goal allowed the Falcons to take a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.

The Falcons doubled their lead almost five and a half minutes into the second period when junior defenseman James McIntosh (Holland Landing, Ontario) benefitted from a rebound and plugged his sixth goal of the season. Coming in from the far-side circle, Jerry Freismuth (Grosse Point Woods, Mich.) took a shot that bounced off the pads of Kapalka and deflected to his right just outside the crease. McIntosh followed up uncontested and wristed home the Falcons second goal of the night, serving as the eventual game-winning tally.

While the Falcons offense had found its groove during the first 26 minutes of the game, its penalty kill unit was worked and found success as well. Though it did allow one power-play goal on the night, the PK unit's highlight came inside the tenth minute when back-to-back penalties put BGSU in a five-on-three disadvantage for 1:55 of time. The Lakers mounted eight shots while on the two-man advantage. Four were saved by Hammond including a crucial poke-check that thwarted a near-scoring opportunity for LSSU. Three shots sailed wide and another was blocked down by Ian Ruel before each power play ended with no Laker scoring.

The Lakers made a game of it when Domenic Monardo cut into the Falcon lead with a power-play goal inside the last minute of the second period. With a shot from outside the crease closest to the near post, Monardo notched his tenth goal and made the game a one-score contest heading into the second intermission.

Hammond and the Falcons staved off seven shots on goal and played a penalty-free third period to earn their first conference win since Nov. 12 when the Falcons knocked off Northern Michigan on the road. It was their first home conference win since the previous week's victory against nationally-ranked Notre Dame.

The sophomore goaltender finished saving 24-of-25 shots against him on the night on his way to his first career conference win. His counterpart, Kevin Kapalka, saved 18-of-20 shots against and helped kill all four BGSU power play chances.

Bowling Green (8-18-2, 3-15-2-0) will begin a four-game road trip next weekend when the team heads to Kalamazoo, Mich. to play nationally-ranked Western Michigan at Lawson Arena on Feb. 4-5. Both games are set for 7:35 p.m. ET puck drops. The Falcons will return back to the BGSU Ice Arena on Feb. 18-19 for a weekend against Northern Michigan, including senior night held on the weekend finale.

Full coverage of Falcon hockey and all 18 varsity sports can be found on the official online home of BGSU athletics, www.BGSUFalcons.com.