Cullen Scores Lone Falcon Goal Against Bemidji Friday Night

Friday, January 31

Bemidji, Minn.

8:07 PM

Bowling Green State University

8-9-2-213-12-2; WCHA

Bemidji State

15-4-2-115-8-4; WCHA

Bowling Green

Bemidji State

January 31, 2020 | Ice Hockey

Box Score

By: by Kyle Edmond, BGSU Athletics

BEMIDJI, Minn. - The Bowling Green State University hockey team came up short against No. 19 Bemidji State on Friday night (Jan. 31) in a 4-1 final. Will Cullen scored the lone goal of the night for Bowling Green, coming less than a minute into the second period. The Beavers outshot the Falcons 40-30 over the course of the three periods. Bowling Green's record drops to 13-12-2 overall while being 8-9-2-2 in the WCHA.

Next Home Game: The Falcons return to Slater Family Ice Arena on Feb. 7 to host Alaska Anchorage for the weekend. Both Friday and Saturday will have 7:07 p.m. puck drops. The Falcons last faced Alaska Anchorage in November, sweeping the weekend with a 3-1 win on Friday and a 3-0 win on Saturday.

Scoring Plays

Bemidji State scored in the first period with a goal off the stick of Ethan Somoza, coming off a rebound. The missed attempt that Somoza scored on was tried by Tyler Kirkup, instead getting the first assist with the second going to Aaron Miller.
Less than a minute into the second period the Falcons lit the lamp with Cullen scoring his third goal of the season. He was assisted by Brandon Kruse and Garrett Daly, marking the first point of Daly's collegiate career.
Later in the period after a Falcon deflection, the puck hit off of Kirkup's helmet and into the net for the second goal of the night for Bemidji State. Brad Johnson and Somoza had the assists.
The Beavers extended their lead before the end of the period with Miller scoring on the power play. He was assisted by Elias Rosen and Owen Sillinger.
In the third period, Alex Ierullo moved from left to right to create room at the crease to score for Bemidji State. He was assisted by Sillinger and Charlie Combs.

Other Key Plays

In the first period alone, Eric Dop was able to halt multiple breakaway attempts by the Beavers, including one in the waning minutes of the period. The effort was enough to keep the Falcons within one at the break, saving 10 of the 11 BSU tries in the first period.
The Falcons and Beavers traded penalties in the first period, seeing one power play begin as soon as another was ending on two different occasions.
In the second period, four penalties resulted in eight minutes served by the Falcons in the box with Bemidji State scoring on the power play twice.

Falcon Stat Facts

Assisting on Cullen's goal, Kruse moved closer to the 100 career point milestone with the assist being his 96th point while being his 16th assist this season.
While Kruse is nearing 100 career points, Daly registered his first. With the second assist on Cullen's goal, Daly marked down his first collegiate point.
Registering 36 saves, the total for Dop was his second most of the season, trailing his 37 save performance in a 2-1 win against Western Michigan in Kalamazoo.

Up Next

The Falcons will again face the Beavers on Saturday (Feb. 1), moving the start time up to the standard 7:07 p.m. EST. The game will serve as the final meeting between the two teams during the regular season.
Next weekend, the Falcons return to Slater Family Ice Arena to face Alaska Anchorage in a weekend series with both games set for 7:07 p.m. starts.

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