Hockey's Sweep of Alaska Anchorage Fuels Conference Standings

Friday, February 16

Anchorage, Alaska

11:07PM

Bowling Green State University

19-9-6, 16-5-5

Alaska Anchorage

2-26-4, 2-21-3

Bowling Green

Alaska Anchorage

February 17, 2018 | Ice Hockey

Box Score

By: Jenna Jorgensen (Assistant Director of Athletic Communications)

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The Bowling Green hockey program (19-9-6, 16-5-5-2 WCHA) picked up its fourth conference sweep of the season with a 2-1 win at Alaska Anchorage (2-26-4, 2-21-3-3 WCHA) Friday evening. By Tyler Spezia's game-winning goal, the Falcons locked in a minimum of a No. 3 seed for the WCHA Playoffs heading into the final week of the regular season.

Box Score
Ford Goal Call 1-0
Spezia Goal Call 2-1

Scoring Plays

Period 1 | 00:09 – After a scoreless first period, the Falcons came out with a tic-tac-toe of a goal off the faceoff to begin the second period. Freshman Connor Ford was there to one-time it into the net for a 1-0 lead. His sixth of the season was assisted by sophomore Lukas Craggs.
Period 3 | 12:19 – As the clock wound down on regulation, Bowling Green was able to force a turnover in the neutral zone where freshman Brandon Kruse broke free with the puck. Kruse then found Spezia, whose slapshot rocketed to the top shelf to put the Falcons up 2-1.

Statistical Standouts

Four Falcons began two-game point streaks including Tyler Spezia (2G), Connor Ford (1G, 1A), Brandon Kruse (3A) and Lukas Craggs (2G, 1A) by earning points both nights against the Seawolves.
Highlighting the box score this weekend was senior Tyler Spezia, who scored in back-to-back games, including his 10th of the season as the game-winner to seal the sweep.
Between the pipes, freshman Eric Dop registered 16 saves, including a game-high of seven in the third period. On the season the Lewis Center, Ohio native improves to 8-4-2 record and .901 save percentage, and has now allowed two goals or less in nine of his 15 appearances this season.
The Falcons recorded a perfect penalty kill on the weekend, as they burned all five on the night and seven on the weekend against the Seawolves.
Overall, the Falcons outshot Alaska Anchorage 22-17, including eight shots in each of the first and second periods.

Coach Bergeron's Take

"It didn't seem like there was much ice for us out there tonight. They defended really well, and a big challenge for us tonight was around their net and our power play. We had opportunities to take the game over in the second period on the power play, and we weren't able to do that, so I think it was primarily offensive challenges."
"I think our penalty kill did well. I think we defended well tonight, much better than we did last night. Something we were disappointed about in last night's game was our defensive play in general, but I think we defended much better tonight. So I think some of our challenges were offensive, but we had a pretty decent night defensively."
"You come up to Alaska and get two games at a critical point in the year, that's a good weekend for us and I'm proud of the guys for that. The last game before this we lost, and we came up here with a purpose and that was to clinch third place, and we did that tonight. Now the next thing is to see how high we can get beyond this."

Up Next

The Falcons will round out the regular season next week, as it faces Alabama Huntsville on the road Friday, Feb. 23 and Saturday, Feb. 24. Puck drops are set for 6:07 p.m. local / 7:07 p.m. Eastern on Friday, followed by 3:07 p.m. local / 4:07 p.m. Eastern on Saturday.
The Bowling Green hockey program has clinched home ice and will serve as a host for the First Round of the WCHA playoffs. The best-of-three series is slated for March 2-4 at the Slater Family Ice Arena against a To Be Determined opponent.

Follow the Falcons

For more information on the hockey program, follow the Falcons on Twitter (@BGFalconHockey and @BGAthletics) and now on Instagram (bgfalconhockey) as well as on the web right here at BGSUFalcons.com.