Broncos Third Period Rally Downs Falcons

Saturday, February 5

Kalamazoo, Mich.

7:35 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

Western Michigan

Jordan Samuels-Thomas scored the Falcons' lone goal on Saturday night against Western Michigan.

February 05, 2011 | Ice Hockey

The Falcons surrendered two third-period goals to the Broncos in their 3-1 loss, Saturday night.

By: by Ryan Gasser, Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant

KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- Bowling Green and Western Michigan entered the third period again deadlocked in a 1-1 tie, but overtime and a shootout were not meant to be after the Broncos scored two goals in the final frame to put away the Falcons by a 3-1 final score, Saturday night. Andrew Hammond again played well in the effort, collecting his second straight 30-save performance in the loss.

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Photo gallery (coming soon!)

Western Michigan took a 1-0 lead at the 2:22 mark of the second period moving quick in transition bringing in from deep in their own zone. Moving the puck up the ice, Ryan Watson hit J.J. Crew, who had penetrated the BGSU defense, with a pass streaking down the left side of the ice. Making his move toward Andrew Hammond (Surrey, British Columbia) and the Falcon net, Crew took his shot as he approached the slot and went low, glove-side and beat the sophomore keeper. Assists were awarded to Watson and WMU goaltender, Jerry Kuhn.

The Falcons struck back nearly ten minutes later in the second period when sophomore forward Jordan Samuels-Thomas (South Windsor, Conn.) took advantage of heavy traffic around the Bronco cage and scored his eighth goal of the year to tie the game. With Falcons and Broncos alike battling behind the net, Robert Shea (Harrison Township, Mich.) tipped the puck up toward the edge of the crease to Samuels-Thomas. Banging away and getting a bounce off the traffic mounting in front of the goaltender, Samuels-Thomas found a hole underneath Kuhn and lit the lamp for Bowling Green at 13:55 of the period.

Hammond continued his brilliant play of late throughout the game but posted his best numbers over the first two periods, stopping 25-of-26 shots against him. It was not until the third period when the Broncos began their breakaway on the scoreboard.

Derek Roehl and Trevor Elias both scored their second goals of the season over a five-minute span in the first half of the third period. Near the six-minute mark, the Broncos were nearing the end of their fifth power play when they took possession of f of the draw and moved the puck around the BGSU zone. Ross Henry put a shot on net that Hammond knocked down, but there for the rebound was Roehl, putting home the eventual game-winner. Henry and Ian Slater were awarded assists on the play.

Hammond finished the night making a three-period total of 30 saves, including nine on the power play. Bowling Green helped kill five of the Broncos' six power plays on the night. The Falcons had only one power play chance the entire evening with Western Michigan committing only two penalties on the night, one of which a coincidental in the second period.
Bronco forward Trevor Elias added the insurance goal at 10:00 of the third period when he perfectly redirected a shot up and over Hammond's blocker. The initial shot was taken by Danny DeKeyser with an additional assist given to Greg Squires.

Bowling Green (8-19-3, 3-16-3-1) earned two points on the weekend with their tie and shoot out win Friday night and will continue its road stint in South Bend, Indiana. The team will travel west to play the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame University inside the Joyce Center for the last time before the completion of Notre Dame's new facility. The series will begin on Friday, Feb. 11 with the game beginning at 7: 35 p.m. ET and Saturday's puck dropping at 7:05 p.m. ET.

A special guess joined the evening's broadcast, unexpectedly. The student radio broadcaster who served as play-by-play announcer for the 1983-84 National Championship team, Joe Borenstien, visited the broadcast booth and joined Everett Fitzhugh on the call tonight. Borenstein brought his memories of that unforgettable team, his experiences as a student broadcaster and his thoughts on the program to the air during the second and third periods. His thoughts expressed during the broadcast will be available later this week on BGSUFalcons.com.

Full coverage of Falcon hockey and all 18 varsity sports can be found on the official online home of BGSU athletics, www.BGSUFalcons.com. Be sure to follow the Falcons on Facebook by searching “BG Warriors” or follow them on Twitter through www.twitter.com/WEAREBGHOCKEY.