The BG hockey team defeated Lake Superior 7-0 on Sunday night in a decisive game three to advance to the second round of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association playoffs.
Dan DeSalvo scored twice; Ralfs Freibergs, Adam Berkle and Ryan Carpenter each had a goal and an assist and Andrew Hammond posted a 23–save shutout to help the Falcons advance to the second round for the third-straight season.
Lake Superior put the Falcons on the ropes Friday night with a 2-0 win. BG evened the series Saturday with a 6-3 win.
Kevin Kapalka recorded a 31-save shutout in Friday night’s game for the Lakers. Instead of sticking with the hot hand for game two, Lake Superior coach Jim Roque opted to start Kevin Murdock, who was eighth nationally in the regular season with a .935 save percent.
The Falcons roughed him up, scoring five times on 22 shots in two periods of action Saturday. In five periods against the Falcons this season, Murdock gave up 11 goals.
“There’s only one way to respond to the way we played [Friday], and that’s to come out hard and more competitive,” Carpenter said after Saturday’s game. “It’s never over until it’s over and we always have a chance.”
BG’s second-round opponent is still to be determined. The Falcons will either play at Miami or Notre Dame. That opponent depends on the result of the Michigan State v. Alaska game that was scheduled to begin at 11:05 p.m. EST on Sunday night.
If Michigan State wins, BG will play Notre Dame. If Alaska wins, the Falcons face Miami.
BG coach Chris Bergeron made several lineup changes following Friday’s loss. He replaced Andrew Wallace, Chad Sumsion and Jose Delgadillo in the lineup with Marc Rodriguez, Ted Pletsch and Ryan Peltoma.
Those changes paid off, as Rodriguez, Pletsch and Peltoma combined for two goals and an assist in the final two games.
“I’ve been struggling basically all year with consistency in my game,” Peltoma said following Saturday’s game. “I got an opportunity to go out and play my game and got rewarded for it.”
DeSalvo got BG on the board in the first 1:58 of Sunday’s game, and scored again 3:36 into the second period. As a team, BG scored two goals in each of the first and second periods, scoring three in the third period.
Kapalka was back in net for Sunday’s game but didn’t fare as well as Friday. He gave up six goals on 32 shots.
Carpenter had one of his best weekends of the season, scoring three goals and adding two assists in the three games. His 18 goals and 33 points on the season are both team-highs.
“He’s still trying to figure it out; we all forget, me included, that he’s just a sophomore because it seems like he’s been here forever,” Bergeron said after Saturday’s win. “I thought we responded well [from Friday’s game].”
Bryce Williamson and Ben Murphy each had two assists Sunday. Cam Wojtala scored the Falcons’ second goal of the game, and had two goals and an assist on the weekend.
