From the moment the game started, it was clear that Ferris State goalie Phil Osear was going to be tough to beat. And with the defense in front of him playing well, it was a long night for the visiting Falcons, as the Bulldogs skated to a 3-0 win, giving Osear his third shutout of the season.
The Bulldogs scored in the first periods some hard work along the boards behind Falcons goaltender Tyler Masters. Phil Meyer created the initial chance by trying to bank in a shot off the goaltender from behind the net. It was Jason Basile who got the rebound opportunity, and the bounce, to knock it over Masters and give Ferris the 1-0 lead at 10:34.
Later in the period, Ferris State’s special teams got a goal while on the power play. Osear saw an opportunity up ice while Bowling Green was in the middle of a line change. He fed the puck to Christian Schroder, who broke in with Rob Lightfoot on a two-on-one chance. Schroder passed it Lightfoot, who made no mistake in burying it past Masters for a 2-0 lead at 19:04.
Dispite the two goal lead, the Falcons did not give up. Tyler Masters kept his team in the game with some magnificent saves, but the Ferris defense did not give up many golden opportunities for Bowling Green to score. The chances the Falcons got were eaten up by Osear almost immediatly.
The best chance came in the third period at the 12:32 mark. The Falcons were pressing hard in the offensive zone, and with forward Greg Day in the slot, the puck came right to him with not a Bulldog defenseman in sight. But two shots were not enough as Osear was equal to the task, gloving the last shot for good measure.
Tyler Masters was pulled with a little under two minutes left in the game, but it was the Bulldogs’ Rob Collins who backhanded the puck from center ice into the empty net to put the nail in the coffin.
The Bulldogs will take on Nebraska-Omaha at home next weekend, while Bowling Green with host a pair of games against Western Michigan.
