BGSU hockey (11-5-4, 8-3-3) opened its weekend series against Ferris State (4-20-0, 3-13-0) in Big Rapids, Michigan, with a 3-1 victory on Friday night. This allowed the Falcons to claim a season sweep over the Bulldogs after the Orange and Brown earned 9-5 and 5-2 victories over FSU during the two teams’ series held at the Slater Family Ice Arena earlier in the season.
BG would complete the weekend and season sweep over the Bulldogs on Saturday night when the Falcons skated to a 5-1 victory at FSU’s Ewigleben Ice Arena.
Bowling Green would open the scoring early in the first period when junior defenseman and alternate captain Gustav Stjernberg scored from the slot after receiving a drop pass from senior forward Quinn Emerson while entering the offensive zone just over five minutes into the game. Along with Emerson, an additional assist was credited to junior forward Ben Doran.
The Falcons continued their scoring ways in the second period when Doran scored on a power-play opportunity just 41 seconds into the second frame. Junior defenseman Breck McKinley was credited with the lone assist on the play.
The Orange and Brown would score on another power-play opportunity later in the second period when freshman forward Dominik Rymon ripped a one-timer from the left faceoff dot past FSU’s Hobie Hedquist. Emerson supplied Rymon with the pass from behind the goal line and was credited with an assist along with freshman defenseman Ty Higgins.
Ferris State would respond with a power-play goal of its own before the end of the second period when junior defenseman Jack Mesic’s shot from the point beat BGSU’s Jacob Steinman to make the score 3-1 heading into the second intermission. Senior forwards Max Dukovac and Connor McGrath were credited with the assists on the goal.
Senior forward and alternate captain Jaden Grant would reinstate Bowling Green’s three-goal lead in the third period off yet another power-play goal just nine seconds into the final frame. Emerson and Higgins were credited with the assists on the play that ended with Grant scoring after being left all alone in the slot by the FSU defenders.
Emerson would tack on an extra goal for the Orange and Brown later in the third period via a one-timer from the slot. Higgins and freshman forward Jérémie Minville were credited with the assists on the play.
Bowling Green would finish the game having outscored Ferris State 5-1 and outshooting the Bulldogs 40-19.
Grant would lead the Falcons in shots on goal with five throughout the contest, with Emerson and freshman defenseman Brayden Crampton’s four apiece following closely behind.
Steinman finished the game for the Falcons after putting together a .947 save percentage and 18 saves.
Despite the losing effort, FSU’s Hedquist put together a powerful goaltending performance as the junior goaltender finished the game having made 35 saves while recording a .875 save percentage.
BG also had a powerful evening in the faceoff dots as the Falcons won 40 faceoffs compared to FSU’s 22.
Grant and Doran led the way at the faceoff dots, with Grant winning 17 of the 22 faceoffs he was tasked with, as Doran won 13 of the 19 he faced.
BG also had multiple players step up defensively with the Falcon roster blocking a total of eight shots. Senior defenseman and team captain Dalton Norris’ three blocked shots led the team, with redshirt senior defenseman Jackson Niedermayer following closely behind with two.
The Falcons’ win, along with their 3-1 victory the previous night, allowed Bowling Green to claim all six possible points towards the CCHA standings, which led to BG jumping up from sixth to fifth in the CCHA standings following Bemidji State’s (9-10-3, 7-4-3) 4-3 loss to Michigan Tech (14-8-2, 9-3-2).
Head coach Dennis Williams and the Orange and Brown will look to continue collecting points and moving up the CCHA standings next weekend as they return home to face Lake Superior State University (8-13-1, 5-9-0) in a weekend series at the Slater Family Ice Arena on Jan. 16 and 17.
