Friday Features Flurry of Firsts as Falcons Fight Past Lakers

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio – The Bowling Green Falcons (11-12-0, 8-7-0 CCHA) earned a 5-2 victory over the Lake Superior State Lakers (3-16-2, 2-10-1 CCHA) in their first game of 2023. Salvatore Evola made his first collegiate start in net and made a career-best 28 saves to earn his first win. Ben Wozney scored his first career goal, while fellow defenseman Zach Vinnell lit the lamp for the first time as a Falcon. Quinn Emerson scored the eventual game-winner, the first of his career. Ryan O'Hara had a career-best three assists, extending his scoring streak to five games. Austen Swankler also extending his scorign streak, tallying two assists to extend to 13 consecutive games.

Scoring Plays

The Falcons struck first, scoring on the power play less than 90 seconds into the contest. After Dalton Norris collected a clearing attempt from the Lakers, he pushed it down to Austen Swankler on the right boards. He put it on the stick of Ryan O'Hara at the goal line, who made a cross-crease feed to Ethan Scardina. He connected on the close-range shot to give BGSU the early lead.
Just past the halfway point of the first period, the Falcons scored out of the media break. LSSU won a faceoff in the Falcon attacking zone, but Zach Vinnell was able to secure the puck after a Laker tried to move it up the ice. He fired from the blue line, then Nathan Burke redirected it from between the circle for the second goal of the game.
Early in the second period, Quinn Emerson extended the Falcon lead. He cycled the puck behind the net, where it was obtained by LSSU. As the Laker attacked up the ice, the puck was poked away by O'Hara and onto the stick of Emerson. His wrist shot from inside the left circle beat the goaltender five-hole for the score.
Lake Superior State tallied a power play goal to get on the board late in the second period. Jacob Bengtsson fed it from the blue line to the right dot, where Louis Boudon was located for the one-timer. The initial shot was saved, but the rebound went directly to Harrison Roy, who knocked it into the net.
Ben Wozney padded the Bowling Green lead in the third with his first collegiate goal. As the Falcon power play expired, O'Hara passed it to Swankler on the goal line. His shot was saved as the power play ended, but Wozney skated into the left circle to whistle a shot top-shelf for the even strength score.
With just under five minutes to play, the Lakers scored another power play goal, this time with an extra attacker. Bengtsson sent the puck from the point to the top of the left circle, where Brandon Puricelli was located. His centering pass found the tape of Roy, who tipped it past the goal line to trim the Falcon lead to two.
Vinnell scored a long-range empty net goal with under a minute to clinch the victory. As the Lakers entered the zone, O'Hara skated in front of their attacker. The puck trickled to Vinnell, who shot from the top of the right circle in the Falcon defensive zone. It rolled across the goal line, marking the senior's first goal as a Falcon.

Falcon Facts

Ryan O'Hara tallied a career-best three assists, which also marked his first career three-point game. He has 13 assists on the season, ranking second on the team. The sophomore is also second on the team in points (21) and multi-assist games (3). He is tied with Alex Barber and Taylor Schneider for second on the squad in multi-point efforts (6). He joins Swankler as the only players with three-assists games this year. In his career, O'Hara has 16 assists and 28 points through 56 games. He has scored in five consecutive games, totaling two goals and eight assists for ten points in this span. Of those five games, the last four have been multi-point performances, with the forward recording two goals and seven assists for nine points.
Austen Swankler had a pair of assists, giving him a team-best 16 on the season. He also leads the team in points (30), multi-point games (9), and multi-assist games (4). The sophomore extended his scoring streak to 13 games, totaling nine goals and 14 assists for 23 points in this stretch. His last four games have all been multi-point efforts, registering four goals and six assists for 10 points in this span. He has 15 career multi-point efforts and six career multi-assist performances. Through 58 games, he has accumulated 22 goals and 34 assists for 56 points.
Zach Vinnell scored his first goal as a Falcon, giving him nine in his collegiate career. He also tallied his 10^th assist of the year, giving him 11 points. He leads all defensemen in assists and points. This was his second multi-point game of the season. In his career, he has 35 assists and 44 points. Tonight marked his fifth consecutive game with a point, tallying two goals and seven assists for nine points in this span.
Ben Wozney netted his first career goal, giving him nine points on the season and 13 in his career.
Ethan Scardina scored his team-best sixth power play goal of the season, extending his season goal total to nine. He has 12 points on the year and 26 in his career. In his 70-game career, the junior has 15 goals, with eight coming on the power play.
Nathan Burke scored his 10^th goal of the year, putting him second on the team. He has 16 points this season and 39 in his BGSU career. Through 60 games as a Falcon, he has scored 26 goals. In his collegiate career, the fifth-year forward has 38 goals and 67 points through 144 games.
Quinn Emerson scored his second goal of the season, extending his point total to five. He is tied with Jaden Grant for the lead in goals by a freshman. His goal was the game-winner, marking the first of his career. The forward has scored in three consecutive games, totaling one goal and two assists.
Salvatore Evola made his first career start and earned his first career win behind a 28-save performance.
The Falcons scored on the power play for the fifth game in a row, giving them 24 power play scores on the season. This leads the CCHA and is tied for third in the country.

Ty's Take
"Every line had chances. We're right there making plays. Both power play units had really good chances in the couple times we had a power play. That's a positive. When we've been at our best, we're a team that gets contributions from a lot of people. It's important that we have that and tonight was a great example."

Coach Eigner's full postgame press conference is available HERE. Zach Vinnell's postgame press conference is located HERE. Salvatore Evola's postgame press conference can be found HERE.

Up Next
The Falcons and Lakers conclude the series at 7:07 p.m. ET tomorrow (Jan. 7). Tickets can be purchased HERE and parking can be purchased HERE.

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Ryan O'Hara

Zach Vinnell

Austen Swankler

Ben Wozney

Players Mentioned

Alex Barber

Nathan Burke

Quinn Emerson

Salvatore Evola

Jaden Grant

Dalton Norris

Ryan O'Hara

Ethan Scardina

Taylor Schneider

Austen Swankler

Zach Vinnell

Ben Wozney

Players Mentioned

Alex Barber

Nathan Burke

Quinn Emerson

Salvatore Evola

Jaden Grant

Dalton Norris

Ryan O'Hara

Ethan Scardina

Taylor Schneider

Austen Swankler

Zach Vinnell

Ben Wozney

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