Dop, Rich Combine For Shutout Against Alabama Huntsville

Wednesday, February 24

Bowling Green, Ohio

7:07 PM

Bowling Green State University

18-8-1

Alabama Huntsville

3-13-1

Alabama Huntsville

Bowling Green

Photo by: Mallory Hiser, BGSU Athletics

February 24, 2021 | Ice Hockey

Box Score Photo Gallery Photo Gallery 2

By: by Kyle Edmond, BGSU Athletics

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The No. 13 Bowling Green State University hockey came away with a 5-0 victory over Alabama Huntsville at the Slater Family Ice Arena on Wednesday night (Feb. 24). The Falcons used a four-goal second period to propel them to the win in the first game of the home-and-home series. In net, Eric Dop and Brett Rich combined for the shutout, being the first for the Falcons at home since Nov. 22, 2019 against Lake Superior State, a game that also ended 5-0. With the win, the Orange and Brown advance to 18-8-1 overall while being 7-5-1 in the WCHA. The series will now shift south to Huntsville for the second game of the series, set to take place on Sunday (Feb. 28) with a 4:07 p.m. puck drop with the game being available to stream on FloHockey.

Next Home Game: The Falcons could have the opportunity to host a series in the first round of the WCHA playoffs. The top four teams in the conference will host with the standings and matchups being determined with the final regular season games. Should Bowling Green host, those games would be March 12-14.

Scoring Plays

The Falcons were the first to light the lamp with an even strength goal from Connor Ford, seeing an assist from Will Cullen.
Just over two minutes later the Orange and Brown added another tally to the total seeing Max Johnson score with assists from Brandon Kruse and Carson Musser.
Barely a minute later Bowling Green was able to net the puck once again with Kruse being the benefactor. Johnson and Cameron Wright logged the assists.
Before the end of the second period the Falcons pushed the lead to four with Anton Malmstrom scoring his first goal of the season, coming on a delayed penalty with the extra attacker. Kruse and T.J. Lloyd had the assists.
With just under two minutes remaining in the game, the Orange and Brown added one more score, another goal by Ford with an assist from Alex Barber.

Falcon Stat Facts

With three points on the night, Brandon Kruse moved to 140 career points, moving past Peter Wilson and into a four-way tie for 36th all-time with Tom Newton, Paul Titanic and Jason Clark. The three points also marked Kruse's seventh multiple-point game of the season and 33rd of his career. As for multiple-assists, having two, Kruse now has five multiple-assist games this season and 20 over his tenure in the Orange and Brown.
Max Johnson also moved up the all-time list with a goal and an assist. The two points for Johnson puts him in a tie for 55th all-time with Brian McKee with 119 career points. The two points also marked Johnson's sixth multiple-point game of the season and 30th of his career.
Tallying two goals in the game, Connor Ford raised his career total to 112. While it doesn't move him up the all-time list yet, he now needs just one point to tie Jonathan Matsumoto for 59th all-time. Ford's two goals served as his seventh multiple-point game of the season and 28th of his career while also being his second multiple-goal game this season and sixth of his career.
Assisting on Kruse's goal, Cameron Wright is now up to 99 career points, needing just one more to become the program's 76th player to reach the century mark. Wright's point total is a near balance, consisting of 50 goals and 49 assists thus far.
Scoring the Falcons' fourth goal of the game, being with the extra attacker, Anton Malmstrom tallied his first collegiate goal.
Playing the last minute and 59 seconds of the game, senior Brett Rich saw his first collegiate minutes between the pipes, getting a share of the team shutout. Eric Dop logged the start and the win, making 11 saves. The shutout for the Falcons is the first league-play shutout at home for BGSU since Nov. 22, 2019 when they topped Lake Superior State 5-0 and Dop logged 18 saves.
Taking 41 shots on goal as a team, the Falcons move to 8-0 on the season when registering at least 40 shots on goal. Of those 41 shots, five found the back of the net, moving the Orange and Brown to 14-0 when scoring four or more goals this year.
Bowling Green also carried a 4-0 lead into the third period, now being 15-0 this season when leading after the second period.

Ty's Take

Up Next

The Falcons and Chargers will conclude their series at Huntsville on Sunday for a 4:07 p.m. puck drop. The game will be streamed on FloHockey and will serve as the final game of the regular season for Bowling Green.

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