Saturday, December 3
Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.
7:07 PM
Bowling Green State University
8-8-2, 7-4-1-1WCHA
5
at
2
Lake Superior State
8-8-0, 5-7-0WCHA
1
2
3
F
Bowling Green
1
1
3
5
Lake Superior State
0
2
0
2
Craggs Scores Shorthanded Game-Winner for the Falcons in 5-2 Win
December 03, 2016 | Ice Hockey
Box Score
McLain Goal Call 1-0
McLain Goal Call 2-1
Craggs Goal Call 3-2
Dufour Goal Call 4-2
McLain Goal Call 5-2
SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. – The Bowling Green hockey team (8-8-2, 7-4-1 WCHA) tallied three goals in the third period of action with Lake Superior State (8-8-0, 5-7-0 WCHA ) Saturday night to win 5-2 in conference action. With the victory, the Falcons split the weekend with the Lakers, and Mitch McLain earned his second hat trick of the season, while Lukas Craggs notched a shorthanded game-winner.
McLain highlighted the evening with three goals, making it his 10th career and fourth multi-point night of the season. First, the Baxter, Minn. native capitalized on Connor McDonald's shot that fell off the glove of the Lakers goaltender. McLain swooped in and buried the puck into the upper left corner of the net to give Bowling Green the lead 1-0, 13:14 into the game.
Although the Lakers then netted its first goal of the night 3:24 into the second, McLain was quick to respond for the Falcons just 2:13 later. The junior forward scored his second of the night and ninth of the season by flipping in a backhanded shot at the left post, which went off the back of the goaltender to regain the Falcons lead by a 2-1 mark.
Lake Superior State was then able to capitalize on a turnover and swat the puck out of the air to tie up the game with 7:36 remaining in the second, meaning the pair of conference rivals would then go into the final period of play with a 2-2 tie.
"What I liked best out of the third period was that a lot of guys were contributing, and up to that point, there were few guys we needed more from and it came out in the third," Bowling Green hockey head coach Chris Bergeron said. "I also liked the special teams play, as the shorthanded goal that became the game-winner was key."
The Lakers were on the power play but with a turnover in the slot, freshman Lukas Craggs picked up the puck and took a quick shot at the top of the crease, and made the score 3-2 Falcons 5:44 into the final stanza of play. The unassisted goal marked both the Elmhurst, Ill. native's first career shorthanded and game-winning goal. With the assist on McLain's first goal of the night, Craggs also marked his first multi-point night in his career.
As senior Kevin Dufour was coming in down low, he received a pass from the right faceoff circle by Jacob Dalton and was able to sneak past the goaltender and put the puck in the back of the net. The Quebec City, Quebec native's goal was his fifth of the season and put Bowling Green up 4-2 with 8:04 remaining in the game.
The Falcons were then able to withstand over 3:00 of play as the Lakers had an extra skater with the goalie pulled. Junior Tyler Spezia picked up the puck at the Bowling Green blue line and took it out of the zone with McLain in a 2-on-1 offensive opportunity, with which McLain was able to place the puck in the net for the 5-2 final and hit his second hat trick of the season.
The win marked freshman Ryan Bednard's second of his career in three starts for the Falcons this year, while the Macomb, Mich. native was critical in the third period spree. Bednard tallied a career-high of 28 saves in the game with a .880 save percentage on the night. Bednard also marked a game-high of 12 saves in the second period, followed by nine in the third.
Defensively, the Falcons accounted for six blocked shots by six different players, while offensively, by tallying 31 shots on goal, the Falcons outshot their opponents for the 13th time this season in the team's 18 games played. Overall, Bowling Green went 1-6 on the power play and killed all five of its penalties Saturday night against the Lakers.
"We are a team that has proven we know how to win, and find ways to win. Especially on the road against a good team like Lake Superior State, it's good to get for moving forward," Coach Bergeron said. "We played too well on the weekend to come out empty-handed and we were able to earn some bounces and earn a win. That's something we should use as momentum into next week. It was a good night for our team."
Up next, the Bowling Green hockey team will return back home to the BGSU Ice Arena as they host Michigan Tech Friday and Saturday night for WCHA play. Both games are set for 7:07 p.m. puck drops.
Team Stats
BGSU
LSSU
Shots
31
30
PPG
1
0
SHG
2
0
Penalties
9
10
Penalty Mins
18
20
Faceoffs Won
33
33
Game Leaders
Skaters
+/-
0
Goals
3
Sh
6
A
0
+/-
+2
Goals
1
Sh
1
A
1
+/-
+1
Goals
1
Sh
3
A
0
+/-
+2
Goals
0
Sh
3
A
1
Players Mentioned
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