Friday, December 2
Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.
7:37 PM
Bowling Green State University
7-8-2, 6-4-1-1WCHA
2
at
4
Lake Superior State
8-7-0, 5-6-0WCHA
1
2
3
F
Bowling Green
1
0
1
2
Lake Superior State
0
0
4
4
Despite Outshooting the Lakers, Hockey Falls 4-2 Friday Night
December 02, 2016 | Ice Hockey
Box Score
SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. – The Bowling Green hockey team (7-8-2, 6-4-1 WCHA) fell to Lake Superior State (8-7-0, 5-6-0 WCHA) in Western Collegiate Hockey Association action Friday evening in a 4-2 final. Senior captain Sean Walker scored for the sixth time this season to give the Falcons a 1-0 lead in the first, while freshman Frederic Letourneau notched his third of the season late in the third.
The scoreless start to the first period was broken when Walker took a long shot from the point and found the top shelf with just 1:07 remaining in the first period. The Keswick, Ontario native's even strength goal late in the period gave the Falcons a lead heading into the second.
With the momentum, Bowling Green came out hot in the second period and drew the first power play of the game. It was one of the Falcons two man-advantages of the night, and Bowling Green ultimately held onto its 1-0 lead to close out the second period of play as well.
The Lakers responded early in the third period by coming out strong and closing the gap in shots on goal. After creating a flurry at the net, the game was tied up at 1-1, and Lake Superior State took its first lead of the night 3:50 later with a shot taken at the right hash marks that flew to the upper left corner of the net. Then with 4:37 on the clock, the Lakers capitalized on a rebound to extend its lead to a 3-1 mark.
"I thought we defended well through the first two periods and at points in third, and were able to create opportunities when difficult," Bowling Green hockey head coach Chris Bergeron said. "We weren't able to score enough on the power play, and I wish we could have increased the lead to two in the second period. I think we played okay, but just didn't score enough."
With the extra skater in the waning minutes of regulation, sophomores Stephen Baylis and Chris Pohlkamp set up a play at the blue line. Letourneau created a screen down low for Pohlkamp's shot from the point, and tipped it into the net past the Lakers goaltender. The goal narrowed the score to 3-2 Lakers with just 2:16 remaining in regulation.
Although the Falcons offense continued to strike with the extra skater in the final minutes of play, Lake Superior State was able to break away at center ice and notch an empty-netter with just 46.2 on the clock. Despite the score being 4-2 with under one minute remaining, Bowling Green continued to put on the pressure in the offensive zone through the final seconds of the game, which featured a diving save by Lake Superior State goaltender Gordon Defiel to hold onto the final score.
"When you go down, you try to give a good, hard push right way to get a goal back, and in the next few shifts we were okay," said Coach Bergeron. "You don't let it take you out of the game, but it hurt us, we weren't able to rebound from their second goal. We pushed at the end, but our finishes haven't been great this year. Going into the third period with a lead cost us again tonight."
On the night, junior goaltender Chris Nell tallied 22 saves for a .880 save percentage, while junior Mark Friedman and Chris Pohlkamp each accounted for two blocked shots a piece of the team's 11 on the night. Offensively, Walker led the team with a season-high of nine shots on goal, while Friedman fired the puck five times on the Lakers.
Overall, Bowling Green tallied 37 shots on goal, and closed out with a game-high of 14 in the third period. The Falcons held Lake Superior State to 26 shots on goal, and killed all three of its penalties on the night.
Bowling Green will face off with the Lakers again tomorrow night in a 7:07 p.m. start at Taffy Abel Arena.
Team Stats
BGSU
LSSU
Shots
37
26
PPG
0
0
SHG
0
0
Penalties
3
4
Penalty Mins
6
8
Faceoffs Won
30
26
Game Leaders
Skaters
+/-
0
Goals
1
Sh
9
A
0
+/-
-1
Goals
1
Sh
1
A
0
+/-
0
Goals
0
Sh
2
A
1
+/-
-1
Goals
0
Sh
2
A
1
Players Mentioned
F
/ Ice Hockey
D
/ Ice HockeyF
/ Ice Hockey
G
/ Ice HockeyD
/ Ice HockeyD
/ Ice HockeyBG Hockey : Kevin Piel w/Dennis Williams
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BG HKY Postgame 3/15/25
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BG Hky Postgame 03.08
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BG Hky Postgame 3.7
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