A win for BGSU hockey (15-13-4, 11-10-4) in Friday night’s matchup against Lake Superior State (12-19-2, 10-14-1) would have clinched home-ice advantage for the Falcons in the first round of the Mason Cup playoffs. Instead, BG fell to the Lakers 4-3 and extended their recent losing streak to four straight games, the team’s longest losing streak of the season.
A piece of good news for the Falcons heading into the game was the return of senior goaltender Christian Stoever, who had missed the previous four games due to an injury sustained during BG’s 5-2 win over Northern Michigan on Feb. 1. Before the start of Friday’s game, Stoever led the NCAA in save percentage with a .948 and ranked second in the NCAA for goalie winning percentage.
The Falcons opened the scoring when sophomore defenseman Gustav Stjernberg fired a one-timer shot past Lakers’ freshmen goaltender Rorke Applebee while on a powerplay opportunity. Junior defenseman Dalton Norris supplied the setup pass for Stjernberg and an additional assist was awarded to senior forward Ryan O’Hara who helped set up the play.
Immediately following the flashing of the goal light, teddy bears flooded the ice from every direction as fans enjoyed the festivities of teddy bear toss night at the Slater Family Ice Arena. Stjernberg and his Falcon teammates went through the high-five line at the bench while teddy bears and other assorted plush toys flew over their heads. All stuffed animals thrown onto the ice were collected and will be donated to a local children’s hospital.
Following the goal and collection of teddy bears, a lengthy review was held to determine if Lake Superior had committed a penalty with paperwork as Lake Superior had dressed and played a player that they didn’t include on the official scoresheets handed to officials prior to games.
“(It’s) something that, at the end of the day, the league and everyone gotta look into and make sure that what we’re handing in and signing off at the beginning, (its) gotta be true,” said head coach Dennis Williams postgame.
LSSU would respond not long after with a goal of their own as senior forward Timo Bakos took advantage of an out-of-position Christian Stoever and buried the Laker’s first goal of the game with an assist being awarded to sophomore forward Luke Levandowski.
BG would reclaim the lead once again when graduate forwards Seth Fyten and Ethan Scardina gained assists on the scoresheet by setting up freshman Maxwell Martin who made a spectacular move past a Laker defenseman before burying his fifth goal of the season. Martin’s goal broke a nine-game pointless streak for the forward.
Lake Superior would once again respond before the end of the first period when freshman defenseman Jacob Conrad buried an opportunity off a rebound with assists being awarded to senior defenseman Nate Schweitzer and senior forward Dawson Tritt while LSSU was on a powerplay.
The second period would see the Falcons outshot the Lakers 19-2, but the lone goal of the period would be another power-play goal for Lake Superior. Sophomore forward, John Herrington would finish off a passing play on a rush that was assisted by freshman forwards Wilson Dahlheimer and William Ahlrik.
BG seemingly tied the game in the third when Norris fired a one-timer shot past Applebee after receiving a set-up pass from Stjernberg in a reverse of the first goal of the game. However, this goal was called back after a review due to goaltender interference.
LSSU would score soon after to give themselves a two-goal lead when sophomore forward Branden Piku scored via a quick shot off a face-off win.
BG would add one more goal with junior forward Brett Pfoh firing in another one-timer shot after receiving a pass from Eric Parker.
In the end, despite outshooting LSSU 42-22, BG would fall in regulation and drop to fifth in the CCHA standings.
Rorke Applebee finished the game with 39 saves and a .929 save percentage.
Christian Stoever on the other hand, had a less-than-ideal game for the goaltender’s standards. For someone who is usually among the best goaltenders in the entire NCAA and can singlehandedly lead BG to wins, Stoever could only muster 18 saves and finished with a .818 save percentage, both of which are his worst performances of the season.
Despite the loss, many Falcons were able to hit milestones throughout the game.
O’Hara’s assist set a new career high for assists in a season (19) for the senior co-captain while tying his career high for points in a season (30).
Fellow Co-Captain Scardina also set a career-high for assists in a season with seven.
Despite playing a solid game, the loss could have serious consequences on the Falcon’s playoff chances. While having already clinched a playoff berth, another loss in tonight’s rematch will prevent the Falcons from enjoying home-ice advantage during the first round of the Mason Cup playoffs. A loss would also mean the Falcons would be entering the playoffs with a five-game losing streak, which is a situation no team wants to be in; especially when beginning a playoff run.
“We just gotta win tomorrow,” said Williams.
BG will look for a win on a senior night as they will be having a rematch against Lake Superior State to complete the weekend series and the CCHA regular season at the Slater Family Ice Arena. Falcon Media Sports Network’s Ben Corak will have the call starting at 6:45 on WBGU 88.1 FM and will be joined by infamous BG broadcaster Joe Borenstein.
