Before this weekend’s games, Bowling Green (15-9-4, 11-6-4) was sitting at fourth in the CCHA standings with St. Thomas (11-13-5, 8-9-4) right below them in the fifth spot.
After last night’s game, BG was able to jump up to the third spot by leapfrogging Michigan Tech, who lost their Friday night game against Bemidji State. St. Thomas dropped further down to sixth due to their loss and a win for Lake Superior State over Northern Michigan.
The matchup between the Falcons and the Tommies featured an abundance of chippy play and goals seeing 5 goals between the two teams and multiple fights including a pair of ejections.
BG was able to start the scoring when they scored back-to-back goals in a 12-second window during the first period.
The first goal came off the stick of junior forward Quinn Emerson after a net-front scramble in front of St. Thomas Goaltender Aaron Trotter. Senior forward and co-captain Ryan O’Hara, along with graduate forward Ville Immonen assisted on the play.
12 seconds later, the Falcons would strike again thanks to a point shot from graduate defenseman Tommy Pasanen, which banked off a St. Thomas defender and into the net. Junior forward Jaden Grant and sophomore defenseman Breck McKinley were credited with the assists on the play. While his contribution doesn’t show up on the score sheet, freshman forward Adam Zlnka’s contribution to the play can’t be understated as his screen never allowed Trotter to get a good look at the play until the puck was already in his net.
“Tommy Pasanen has got two goals in four games now for us, he’s the new Bobby Orr out there,” said head coach Dennis Williams. “Good things happen when you throw pucks to the net.”
BGSU’s scoring dominance continued into the second period when junior forward Brett Pfoh capitalized by firing a laser of a shot past Trotter early in the second frame. Pasanen set up the play along with sophomore forward Ben Doran, who were both credited with assists.
While shoving matches and physical play had been a constant throughout the game, the aggression levels began to rise to a new level during the tail end of the second frame, with a full out bout occurring at the end of the period. This animosity continued into the third period.
Both teams seemingly stopped caring about the scoreboard and began to put the majority of their attention on the physical side of the game. Body checks went from attempting to separate the player from the puck to attempting to simply just lay out the opposing player. Post whistle-shoving matches turned into post-whistle scrums with punches being thrown by both teams.
One of these scrums resulted in the ejection of Bowling Green’s Jaden Grant and St. Thomas’ Ethan Gauer.
Many of these fights included Falcons rushing to the defense of their teammates in the Orange and Brown.
“We obviously protect each other as a team, we love each other, so we won’t let any of that happen,” said Emerson after the game.
Pasanen shared similar views in his post-game comments; “We’re an incredibly tight group, everyone loves each other, we hang out with each other all the time and I think it shows up on the ice,” said the graduate defenseman. “You don’t have to worry about anything at all because you know, I might get cross-checked but I know my buddy is coming right there, and he’s coming to protect me.
After the ejections of Grant and Gauer, the physicality seemed to calm down slightly, and BG was able to tack on a fourth goal thanks to an O’Hara wrist shot from the point while on a power play opportunity. The defensive pairing of junior Dalton Norris and sophomore Gustav Stjernberg assisted on the goal.
Unfortunately for the Falcons and especially for sophomore goaltender Cole Moore, St. Thomas forward Caige Sterzer would score with just under 90 seconds remaining in the contest, preventing Moore from capturing what would have been his second shutout of the season. Cooper Gay and Jake Braccini were credited with assists.
Despite the heart breaker, Cole Moore still finished the game with solid numbers. The goaltender made 24 saves throughout the contest and recorded a .960 save percentage.
Another major contributor to the BGSU victory was their strong play on the penalty kill. BG’s penalty killers were a perfect 3/3 while being down a man, including having to kill a five-minute major in the second period.
The Falcons will look to collect another three crucial points and complete the weekend sweep over St. Thomas tonight at the Slater Family Ice Arena.
Falcon Media Sports Network’s Ben Corak and Carter Leonard will have the call starting at 6:45 pm on WBGU 88.1 FM.
