Bowling Green netted three straight goals in the second period but it proved to be not enough as the Falcons lost to host Ferris State on Saturday night in Central Collegiate Hockey Association action, 6-3.
FSU took the lead first for the second night in a row when Derek Nesbitt rebounded his own shot on goal and wristed it past BGSU goalie Jordan Sigalet at 6:25 in the first period for a 1-0 Bulldog advantage.
Later in the first, FSU’s Jason Basile stole a pass near BGSU’s blue line while the Falcons were on the power play and sprinted down the ice. Marc Barlow was called for tripping once he caught up with Basile and FSU chose to take the penalty shot. The senior right winger scored on Sigalet for a 2-0 Ferris State lead at 15:58 in the first period. It was the second penalty shot Sigalet has faced this season. The other came at Wayne State on Nov. 17, which he stopped.
The Bulldogs outshot Bowling Green 19-9 in the first period.
The second period mostly went Bowling Green’s way as Mark Wires, Scott Hewson and Kevin Bieksa all netted consecutive goals in less than two minutes for a 3-2 Falcon lead. Wires’ goal came at 5:57 in the second period when he shot from the far corner of the left circle and hit the skate of an FSU defenseman near the crease, which redirected it past Bulldog goalie Mike Brown. Wires’ fifth goal of the season cut FSU’s lead to 2-1.
Then two Bulldog penalties at 6:11 and 6:59 of the period gave BGSU a 5-on-3 power play. The visitors responded with a Hewson power-play goal at 7:21, his seventh of the year, which knotted the game at 2-2. Then Bieksa’s power-play goal at 7:45, his third of the year, gave Bowling Green its first lead of the weekend, 3-2. Hewson’s goal snapped a 0-for-36 slump for Bowling Green on the power play. Bieksa’s goal gave BGSU back-to-back power-play goals for the first time since Oct. 26 vs. Ohio State.
“We finally took advantage of some power play opportunities that we hadn’t in nearly six games,” said BGSU coach Buddy Powers. “It’s been a long time since we scored a power-play goal.”
FSU did not go quietly in the second period, though, as Basile netted his second goal of the night at 16:08 on the Bulldog power play. It was Ferris State’s first power-play goal in 13 attempts on the weekend. Despite BGSU’s three goals in the period, FSU outshot Bowling Green 20-10 for the period.
The home team started the third period with a 5-on-3 power play of its own and capitalized with a goal from Jeff Legue just 22 seconds in, giving FSU a 4-3 lead.
“The 5-on-3 goal was a huge goal,” said Powers. “That was a big goal in the game.”
Bowling Green had several more chances, including three power plays, but Brown had 12 saves in the final period while FSU scored two more insurance goals for the final 6-3 decision.
“Brown made some big plays,” said Powers. “I think that was the difference in the game.”
Sigalet ended with a career-high 48 saves for the Falcons on 54 shots faced. Brown had 28 saves on 31 shots faced. BGSU ended 2-for-9 on the power play while FSU was 2-for-8.
BGSU was without the services of senior captain Greg Day for the first time in his career. Day suffered a laceration above his left ankle in the third period of Friday night’s game and did not play Saturday, snapping a string of 146 consecutive games.
