The Falcons hockey team split their first conference series of the season against the Minnesota State Mavericks, losing 4-1 Friday night before coming back to win 5-2 on Saturday night.
Friday’s game started out with Minnesota State getting the early advantage with a power play goal at the 5:49 mark of the first period. Minnesota State outshot the Falcons 13-6 in the first, but the team held on to keep it a 1-0 game going into the second.
In the second period, the team rebounded to score early as junior forward Shane Bednard passed in front of the net to freshman forward Cameron Wright, who got the Falcons on the board to tie it up at one.
“It was a good play by Wright to get it in and get the defenseman turned around,” Bednard said. “It just kind of got into the corner, (Max) Johnson had great support. I fed it to him, and he made a great play in front to Wright, and he finished it off.”
However, Minnesota State came back late with less than two minutes to go in the period on another power play goal to make it a 2-1 game as the teams headed into the third. In the third, the momentum turned to Minnesota State midway through the period as they doubled their advantage at the 8:05 mark, followed at 12:16 when they capitalized on another power play opportunity, giving them the 4-1 advantage that they would hold on to the end of the game.
“We got outcompeted, outskated and outworked,” Falcons head coach Chris Bergeron said. “If you don’t skate, you don’t work, you don’t compete, then you don’t have offense.”
The team feels that many of the penalties that they committed throughout the game were preventable and a factor in the way that they played the game.
“(We had some) undisciplined penalties and selfish penalties,” Bergeron said. “We went over what Minnesota State does, they put it on tape, we think we’re prepared and we show we weren’t prepared.”
On Saturday, the Falcons got on the board first with sophomore forward Lukas Craggs scoring at the 12:30 mark of the first period, but that would not be all, as Craggs scored again just 20 seconds later to go ahead 2-0, which the team held into the second period.
The second saw the Falcons continue to add to their lead, as freshman forward Connor Ford put the team ahead 3-0 at 7:46, followed with fellow freshman forward Max Johnson capitalizing on a power play opportunity at 13:57, also giving him his first collegiate goal.
“I was sitting in front on the power play and Alec Rauhauser made a good play and shot it on net,” Johnson said. “Luckily I got my stick there, and it was a special moment for me because my parents and family were here from Minnesota, so just to have them here and see my first goal is definitely a special moment.”
However, Minnesota State started coming back just over two minutes later, as Zeb Knutson gave them their first goal of the game. On an ensuing power play chance, Nicolas Rivera scored to put Minnesota State back in the game down 4-2, which is where it stood until the end of the period.
In the third period, the game stood at 4-2 as neither team was able to find a goal until late, as Minnesota State pulled their goaltender, and senior forward Brett D’Andrea capitalized by shooting in the empty netter to seal the 5-2 victory.
“I thought it was pretty darn close to a 60 minute effort,” Bergeron said. “Our effort was way better tonight That’s the way we have to play to give ourselves a chance.”
The team will next play Friday and Saturday night, continuing their home stand against the Alaska Nanooks.
