Despite a Third Period Push, the Falcons Fall to Bemidji State 2-1

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Box Score

BEMIDJI, Minn. – Despite a late momentum push by the No. 15 Bowling Green hockey team, the Falcons (0-1, 0-1 WCHA) fell to Bemidji State (1-0, 1-0 WCHA) in the regular season opener on the road in a 2-1 final. In the Western Collegiate Hockey Association matchup, sophomore Stephen Baylis notched the lone goal for the Falcons early in the third period on one of Bowling Green's 21 shots on the night.

"We want to be a team that gets five, six, seven quality chances a period, and we didn't have that tonight," Bowling Green hockey head coach Chris Bergeron said. "So there's a lot to improve on and we need to start on time from the beginning of the game. You can't spare two goals on the road in a team's home opener and WCHA opener."

The Beavers got on the board early with a power play goal just 6:15 into the game, as freshman Zach Whitecloud struck the twine after a direct shot from the point. The puck found the upper left corner of the net, just over the shoulder of junior goaltender Chris Nell, with only 11 seconds of the Bemidji State power play time expired.

Bemidji State then capitalized on a one-timer right at the crease with seven minutes remaining in the first. The Beavers held onto the two-goal lead through the first 45 minutes of the game, until the Falcons got on the board to make it a 2-1 game early in the third.

"We expected to start better and push better in the first," said Coach Bergeron. "There was a big, hard push from Bemidji State in the first, and they got what they deserved. We weren't ready for that, and our guys weren't happy with where we played at that point."

The first scoring chance came for the Falcons as senior Matt Pohlkamp took a shot from the hashmarks of the right faceoff circle, although the Baxter, Minn. native was robbed by a diving glove save by junior goaltender Michael Bitzer. The puck was destined for the upper right corner of the net and was the Falcons first opportunity to get on the board, with four minutes to play in the first.

Bowling Green then tested Bitzer again in the second period as senior Pierre-Luc Mercier had a scoring opportunity with eight minutes remaining. Mercier had a breakaway chance forced wide right by the Beavers defense and landed a short shot to the low right post successfully stopped by Bitzer.

Bemidji State then landed another power play chance on goal with 4:30 left in the second, as the Beavers pressured Nell, until he denied a final shot by closing up the five hole. With the save, Nell kept it a scoreless period of play, and the Beavers failed to get past the Green Bay, Wis. native for the remainder of the game.

It was just 5:01 into the third period when the momentum shifted in favor of the Falcons. As Bemidji attempted to wrap the puck around the boards to get it out of the zone, it was picked up by sophomore Chris Pohlkamp at the top of the faceoff circle. Pohlkamp's shot bounced off the right post to fall behind the legs of Bitzer, before Baylis was able to push the puck past the goal line to narrow it to a one-goal game. The persistent play cut the Beavers' lead to 2-1 with 15 minutes remaining in the season-opening game.

Although the Falcons had a 2-on-1 shorthanded opportunity with seven minutes remaining, as well as a solid shot by senior Sean Walker with just six minutes left on the clock after killing a penalty, the Falcons best chance to tie up the game came with just 3.2 seconds remaining. In addition to pulling Nell for the final minute, Bowling Green had 50 seconds of power play action to play with a 6-on-4 advantage, which led to a mad scramble in the waning seconds of the game, although Bemidji State was able to hold out for the 2-1 season-opening win.

The Beavers held an edge in shots by a 25-21 mark, although the Falcons were able to tally 12 of those shots in the final 20 minutes of play. Bemidji State also went 1-5 on the power play, while the Falcons failed to capitalize on its five chances with the advantage on the night.

The Falcons will wrap up the WCHA series by facing the Beavers tomorrow evening at 8:07 p.m. ET at the Sanford Center. The game will be available on WCHA.tv for fans to follow.

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