The Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks came into Bowling Green looking to fill some empty needs. They fulfilled them with a 3-1 victory on Friday.
The Mavericks were riding a seven-game road losing streak when they hit the ice and stole the show as they set for a faceoff in the Bowling Green defensive zone with less than a minute to play in the second period. David Brisson scored his seventh goal of the season when he placed the puck in a small hole that was between the post and Falcon goalie Tyler Masters.
Nebraska-Omaha took hardly any time to try and get rid of that streak when freshman Scott Turner capitalized on a Mark Wires cross-checking penalty. Turner scored the only power-play goal of the game at the 3:04 mark of the first period with Jason White and Allan Carr being credited with the assists.
The Falcons knotted the game up at 1 in the second period when they seemed to have the momentum as D’Arcy McConvey sent the puck up to a charging Ryan Murphy, who was coming in on Maverick netminder Dan Ellis. Murphy went in on Ellis with his backhand before sliding it under the freshman netminder.
“They took it to us in the first period,” Bowling Green coach Buddy Powers said. “We came back in the second period and had things going pretty good and then gave up that goal in the final minute. That goal was a killer, we had the momentum and gave it away in that last minute and then in the third period they walk down and score.”
The man of the game was definitely Carr, who capped the night with a brilliant insurance goal 3:52 into the third period.
“The move that I did was not planned,” Carr said. “I was coming down on the defenseman and I lost the puck and I saw it at my feet. I kicked it to my stick and it and I shot it. It all worked out in the end.”
The Falcons lack of finishing scoring chances is starting to haunt them as they have scored only two goals on 43 shots in 180 minutes of play.
“You are not going to win if you score one goal it’s as simple as that,” Powers said. “We had chances to score, and the guys are frustrated as anybody, but the bottom line is if you do not score you are not going to win. We have scored two goals in six periods, so that is the story of the game.”
The frustration from the players is much the same as their coach.
“Tonight we had chances and just did not capitalize on them,” BG right wing Ryan Fultz said. “We had good shots, good tips, good motion, we had nice plays and opportunities but we are not finishing and that seems to be the theme of our season.”
The Falcons top scorer, Greg Day, will be a question mark for Saturday’s contest after suffering what is believed to be a very mild concussion in the first period when he was hit by Hoggan at center ice. Hoggan was called for an interference penalty on the play.
