The BG ice hockey team started the New Year off with a sweep against the University of Alabama-Huntsville Chargers on the road.
On Friday night, the Falcons defeated the Chargers 7-0. The game tied a season high in goals for the 2013-14 season in a Western Collegiate Hockey Association game. The Falcons received goals from six different skaters and goaltender Tommy Burke made 22 saves to earn his second career shutout.
BG received goals from Adam Berkle, Ralfs Freibergs, Mark Cooper, Dan DeSalvo, Ben Murphy and Matt Pohlkamp on Friday night. The Falcons went 1 for 4 on the power play and were 2 for 2 on the penalty kill. The Falcons had 11 different skaters record at least one point and 15 players had a positive on-ice rating in the winning effort.
Senior forward Bryce Williamson recorded two assists on the night, giving him a career high of 20 points in a single season.
“We created a lot of good chances and we had a bunch of guys on the score sheet,” BG head coach Chris Bergeron said. “We took advantage of our chances.”
On Saturday night, the Falcons completed the sweep by winning 4-1. The Falcons received goals from Adam Berkle, Dan DeSalvo, Rusty Hafner and Brent Tate. Tommy Burke made 26 saves in the winning effort.
BG went 0-2 on the power play, however they were 3-3 on the penalty kill. Over the weekend, the Falcons scored a goal in five different periods and outshot UAH 158-93.
“Getting a sweep this weekend was huge,” coach Bergeron said. “Our focus was to get off to a good start in the second half, knowing we were going to have six home games in a row.”
The win improved the Falcons record to 11-9-4 overall and 8-6-2 in WCHA play. The loss dropped UAH to 1-21-0 and 1-13-0 in WCHA play. With the victory, the Falcons are now 5-7-3 on the road and have won two consecutive road games for the first time this season.
BG will return to the BGSU Ice Arena next week Jan. 10, taking on the Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks in another WCHA weekend series. The series will begin a three week home stand for the Falcons.
