BGSU hockey (5-5-1) made their return to the Slater Family Ice Arena on Friday night after a long 26-day absence, which included an away series and two bye weeks.
Unfortunately for the Falcon faithful who were in attendance, they were treated to a disappointing performance as the Michigan Tech Huskies (7-4-0) were able to shut out the Orange and Brown on their way to a 3-0 win over the Falcons.
Penalties proved to be costly for the Falcons early on as the team took a grand total of three throughout the first period, resulting in the Huskies converting on 2/3 of their power play opportunities.
The Huskies’ first goal came from freshman forward Logan Morrell, who was able to knock a rebound opportunity past Cole Moore during a net-front scramble while on the power play. Junior forwards Trevor Kukkonen and Stiven Sardarian were credited with assists on the play.
Michigan Tech struck on the power play again later in the period when junior defenseman Matthew Campbell fired a one-timer into the net after receiving the setup pass from Sardarian. An additional assist was awarded to Morrell.
Tech’s final goal would come during the final minutes of the second period when junior defenseman Viktor Hurtig scored off an odd-man rush opportunity. The goal was assisted by freshman forward Elias Jansson and sophomore forward Isaac Gordon.
Despite Bowling Green creating genuine scoring chances throughout the game, including outshooting the Huskies 12-5 in the final stage of play, the Falcons were never able to crack Senior Goaltender Derek Mullahy, who posted a shutout on the night while making 28 saves.
A constant throughout the game was the violent physicality from both teams. Seemingly, every shift featured at least one booming body check.
Bowling Green players who played well despite the loss included senior forward and Co-Captain Ryan O’Hara and sophomore goaltender Cole Moore. O’Hara recorded six shots on goal throughout the contest, while Moore made 27 saves and posted a .900 save percentage for the game.
“The good thing is, we get another crack at these guys (Michigan Tech) tomorrow,” said head coach Dennis Williams after the game. “We gotta wake up and get refocused.”
The Falcons will look for a different result tonight as they will play game 2 of the series against Michigan Tech at the Slater Family Ice Arena. Puck Drop will be at 7:07 pm, and Falcon Media Sports Network’s Ben Corak will have the call on WBGU 88.1 FM.
