Coming off a very disappointing weekend against a former league foe in Western Michigan, the Bowling Green Falcons found themselves up against another former league foe and in-state rival Ohio State. Bowling Green had won three of the last four against the Buckeyes, including a sweep of a home-and-home last year.
Ohio State scored three power-play goals including two in the third period to get a come-from-behind 5-4 victory.
“We have to execute better in zone on rotation during our penalty kill; the winning goal was exactly what we showed the player on film from last Saturday,” Bowling Green coach Chris Bergeron said.
Staying out of the box was the focus for the Falcons coming in and for the first period at least, they accomplished that. Meanwhile Ohio State made three trips to the box and on the first one Matt Pohlkamp made good on that chance Pohlkamp scored a tying goal at 3:23 of the first after Ronnie Hein had given Ohio State at lead at 1:10.
The Falcons had two more power-play opportunities, but couldn’t convert. Meanwhile, Kevin Miller banged home a goal at 10:32 to give the Buckeyes a 2-1 lead.
“Our power play had in-zone time and weren’t one-and-done like the past game; we had second and third efforts,” said Bergeron.
Ohio State made it 3-1 on a power-play goal from Mason Jobst at 4:02 of the second, but the Falcons responded and with a power-play goal from Pohlkamp at 5:37. Sean Walker made it 3-3 with a blast from the point on a power play at 14:07, then Bowling Green took a lead on a goal by Frederic Letourneau at 16:10.
However, the Falcons took costly penalties in the third, and Ohio State made them pay. Nick Schilkey tied it on a power play at 14:07, and Tanner Laczynski scored the game-winner on a power ply at 16:10.
“The third period was just unacceptable; we can’t take anything from that period, it wasn’t good enough,” said Bergeron. “We lost the special teams battle for the fifth game in a row and our record shows as much.
WCHA results
No. 11 Michigan 4, Michigan Tech 3
Will Lockwood’s short-handed goal at 19:08 of the third period gave Michigan the victory over Michigan Tech. Tech had scored back-to-back goals in the third to tie it, but couldn’t keep the Wolverines off the board late.
No. 1 North Dakota 3, No. 18 Bemidji 2
Brock Boeser netted a natural hat trick to lead the defending national champion to a 3-2 come-from-behind victory. Bemidji had built a 2-0 lead after one period on goals from Phillip Marinaccio and Brett Beauvais, but couldn’t hold off North Dakota from there.
Northern Michigan 6, at Ferris State 4
Northern Michigan scored the final four goals of the game, including three in the third period to take home a wild 6-4 win over Ferris State. Darrin Craighead scored a pair for the Wildcats, while Corey Mackin scored a couple for the Bulldogs.
Lake Superior State 6, at Alabama-Huntsville 3
The Lakers used a four-goal second period to build a 6-1 lead and cruise to a 6-3 victory. Lake Superior got two goals from both Diego Cuglietra and Brayden Geisiner in the win.
No. 9 Minnesota State at Alaska
Late game
