Falcons Clinch Home Ice In First Round With Comeback Win

Sunday, February 28

Huntsville, Ala.

4:07 PM

Bowling Green State University

19-8-1

Alabama Huntsville

3-14-1

Bowling Green

Alabama Huntsville

Photo by: Isaiah Vazquez/BGSU Athletics

February 28, 2021 | Ice Hockey

Box Score

By: by Kyle Edmond, BGSU Athletics

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - The No. 13 Bowling Green State University hockey team scored three goals in the third period to overcome a 2-1 deficit and defeat Alabama Huntsville in a 4-2 final on Sunday (Feb. 28). In that period the Falcons saw Connor Ford tie it up and Sam Craggs take the lead within a minute of each other. Ford later added an empty-netter for insurance for the Falcons. With the win, Bowling Green clinches home ice for the first round of the WCHA Tournament, which will take place on March 12-14. The Falcons finish the regular season with 27 conference points thanks to a record of 8-5-1 while being 19-8-1 overall.

Next Home Game: The Falcons have earned 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. Those games will be March 12-14. More details to come on BGSUFalcons.com.

Scoring Plays

Alabama Huntsville scored the lone goal of the first period seeing Lucas Bahn score with assists from Connor Merkley and Adrian Danchenko.
In the second period the Falcons were able to tie the score at one apiece, seeing a breakaway goal from Tim Theocharidis. Skating 4-on-4, Theocharidis and Brandon Kruse broke away from the pack for the score. Kruse had the primary assist with Max Johnson on the secondary.
Later in the second period the Chargers answered with a short-handed goal from Drew Lennon, seeing assists from Bauer Neudecker and Danchenko.
On the power play in the third period, Connor Ford was able to connect on a rebound off the goalie's pads to tie it up for the Falcons. Will Cullen and Theocharidis had the assists on the goal.
Less than a minute after tying it up, the Orange and Brown claimed the lead with Sam Craggs going top shelf for the goal. T.J. Lloyd and Taylor Schneider were the ones to be credited with the assists.
With Alabama Huntsville pulling their goalie, Ford was able to skate down a loose puck and push it over the line for the final goal of the game to extend the lead. Alex Barber and Craggs were the ones with the assists.

Falcon Stat Facts

The win clinches home ice in the first round of the WCHA playoffs for the Falcons, finishing the season with 27 points in the conference standings.
With the assist on the first Falcon goal, Brandon Kruse logged career point 141 and career assist 103. For points, Kruse is now tied for 34th all-time with Dan Price and Steve Ball. As for assists, he's now tied with Kelly Perrault for 20th all-time.
Max Johnson also assisted on the same goal as Kruse, registering career point 120, tying him with John Stewart for 54th all-time in program history.
With two goals in the third period, Connor Ford raised his career point total to 114, jumping up to a tie for 58th all-time with Joe Quinn.
In addition to his career points, Connor Ford had two goals for the second consecutive game. The outing was his third multiple-goal game of the season and seventh of his career. It also marks his eighth multiple-point game of the year and 29th of his career.
Sam Craggs was able to log his first multiple-point game of the season with the game-winning goal as well as an assist on Ford's empty-netter. The two points were also his fifth multiple-point game of his career.
Tim Theocharidis was also able to have two points in the game being his third multiple-point game of the season and sixth of his career.

Up Next

Next up for the Falcons will be the WCHA Tournament with the first round taking place March 12-14. Matchups are yet to be determined, given that some WCHA contests have yet to be played. Stay tuned for updates on BGSUFalcons.com and on Twitter at @BGFalconHockey.

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