The Bowling Green Men’s Ice Hockey team played their last home series on Feb. 18 and 19 against the Northern Michigan Wildcats. On Friday, they lost 6-3, and on Saturday fell 4-2, gathering no points during this critical playoff push period. The Falcons are now tied in fourth place in the CCHA with Lake Superior, and Northern Michigan only one point behind. With the inconsistencies of this season, there’s no telling of what the Falcons may look like during the postseason.
Feb. 18
It was “90s Night” in the Slate, and the Falcons were hoping to grab more points as they did in the split series against Michigan Tech. The team started off the first period strong with an early goal by BG captain Alex Barber, which trickled in from a pass by Quebec native Gabriel Chicoine. The crowd was roaring and the team tried to feed off of the Madhouse’s energy in order to get the momentum going. The lead was diminished with a goal right after a faceoff win by NMU forward Vincent De May less than two minutes later. Northern Michigan then saw a golden opportunity to take the lead, as Bowling Green would get two consecutive penalties to let Northern Michigan have a two-man advantage. NMU converted the opportunity to a power play goal by their top scorer AJ Vanderbeck. The score was 2-1 at the end of the first, and Bowling Green needed to come back with a fight.
The second period was the Falcons’ opportunity to prove themselves, but Northern Michigan had tricks up their sleeve. After an exchange of shots from both sides, Falcon freshman Ryan O’Hara got a penalty for a bench minor. Although Bowling Green killed the penalty, NMU defenseman Trevor Cosgrove put one past goalie Christian Stoever to extend the lead to 3-1. However, Bowling Green’ Spencer Schneider slapped one past Wildcats’ goalie Charlie Glockner. Things were looking up for the Falcons, but soon after, BG forward Ethan Scardina stumbled to the locker room in pain. This seemed to make the Falcons lose their morale, which then turned into another goal by the Wildcats, which came from forward Hank Crone. Another one went in, this time by NMU sophomore Mikey Colella. The Falcons seemed to lose their edge after the Scardina hit, and even scarier events would come as NMU top scorer AJ Vanderbeck slipped and hit the back of his head on the ice. There was no malicious activity from the Falcons to cause the fall, but unfortunately, Vanderbeck had to be stretchered off. The crowd’s energy disappeared, and Northern Michigan was up 5-2 at the end of the second.
The Falcons needed to make a statement going into the third period to boost their morale and to try to get some points in this playoff push. It did not start off well with the Wildcats almost getting a sixth one past Stoever, but it was waved off due to goalie interference. Right after, another scary sight on the ice was seen as NMU’s Brett Willits went down on the ice. This caused some pushing and shoving, but luckily, Willits went back to the bench. The Wildcats and Falcons’ emotions were high, and this resulted in multiple power plays for Bowling Green. Thankfully, winger Adam Conquest would lessen NMU’s lead and the Falcons seemed to have a chance. With minutes remaining and an empty BGSU net, the hope was stolen by an empty netter by NMU’s Andre Ghantous.
Feb. 19
“Senior Night” honored eight BGSU hockey players as they neared their graduation date this semester, and both the Falcons and the fans were ready for a comeback. A positive start would come quickly with a goal by forward Adam Pitters within two minutes of the first. However, Wildcats fought back with a goal by center Alex Frye getting past Stoever. The frustration within the team was apparent, but Bowling Green tried their best to play a disciplined game.
In the middle of the second, a goal would finally appear after a long stretch of puck battles and penalties. Alex Frye would score another goal this series, putting NMU up 2-1.
The Falcons went into the third cautious, yet confident. They knew that they had a chance of being the better team. However, in the middle of the third during a BGSU power play, former Swedish Hockey League player Hampus Eriksson got a short handed goal for NMU, making it 3-1. However, Bowling Green retaliated when senior Coale Norris got a power play goal just a minute after. Despite the momentum, the Wildcats would get an empty netter towards the end of the period. Bowling Green have only racked up one win in their last seven games.
One of the biggest factors on why the season has been up and down is discipline. The team will take penalties at times that make their strides take halt, and head coach Ty Eigner expressed his frustration on the discipline of the team. “It’s frustrating,” Eigner expresses, “You look at the teams in college hockey that take the most penalties, they’re not the teams that win the most. It’s a bad recipe.”
The Bowling Green Men’s Ice Hockey team will play their last series of the regular season against Lake Superior State on Feb. 25 and 26 in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. The Friday puck drop will be at 7:07pm and the Saturday puck drop will be at 6:07pm.
