SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. – The good news for Lake Superior was they were able to keep Mitch McLain, who has given the Lakers fits over the years, off the scoresheet.
The bad news was that Bowling Green is very capable of spreading out their scoring.
Five different Falcons scored goals, as a three goal second period lifted fifteenth-ranked Bowling Green (15-8-6. 12-4-5 WCHA) to a 5-3 win over Lake Superior (6-19-4, 4-14-3 WCHA) on the road.
“We’re happy with the win,” said Falcons head coach Chris Bergeron. “Any time you win on the road up here, we’re happy with the win.”
Neither team wasted time getting on the scoreboard, as Lake Superior’s opening goal from Anthony Nellis 2:23 into the contest was answered just 28 seconds later by the Falcons’ Alec Rauhauser. The Lakers responded a mere 26 seconds later when Diego Cuglietta deflected a pass behind Falcons netminder Ryan Bednard.
“We had a good start, getting the first goal,” said Lakers head coach Damon Whitten. “They responded and we answered right back. I’ve mentioned before that we can’t afford to give up five goals and expect to win.”
“We were lucky to get that one in between, remarked Bergeron. “They scored fairly quickly just a few minutes in, and we answered right back. Otherwise, we’re down 2-0, which is obviously much different than 2-1. Ultimately, it was just a matter of putting a couple of good shifts in a row together where the puck doesn’t go in the net and realizing we’re in the game.”
Altogether, the three goals were separated by just 54 seconds.
The Falcons tied the game at two when Max Johnson converted on the first power play opportunity of the night for either team. Johnson collected a pass from Stephen Baylis and slid the puck under the pads of Nick Kossoff.
Bowling Green came out in the second period dominating the shots. Goals from Lukas Craggs, Brandon Kruse and Tyler Spezia spelled the end of the evening for Kossoff, who was relieved after the second period in favor of Mareks Mitens.
Although the Lakers got a goal back courtesy of defenseman Lukas Kaelble, they were unable to capitalize on their chances in the third period, including almost three minutes with an extra attacker, as the Falcons held on for the win.
“I thought we pushed back,” said Whitten. “We kind of sagged after their third goal, but a couple of guys kept going to give us some life. We had a tremendous third period, where we really poured it on, but we couldn’t get that next one to really give ourselves a chance.”
After being outshot 13-2 in the second period, the Lakers dominated the shots in the third period by a 18-1 margin. Bednard remained sharp, however, preserving the lead for Bowling Green.
A native of Macomb, Michigan, Bednard has played in a platoon with freshman Eric Dop through much of the year.
“We’ve taken the approach that we’ve recruited two goalies to play,” said Bergeron, on the goaltending platoon. “They’ve both taken advantage of the opportunity. Ryan [Bednard] played 8 or 9 games last year and did a nice job, but we were looking for him to take his game to the next level, which he has. We think that our goaltending gives us a chance to win every night, whichever guy we go with.”
Absent from the scoresheet for Bowling Green was McLain. The senior forward from Baxter, Minnesota, has excelled against the Lakers in his career, including a hat trick last season and a shootout goal earlier this season. McLain leads the spread out Falcon offense with 12 goals.
Looking to tomorrow, Bergeron remarked that his team will “have to regroup a little bit, our third period wasn’t very good. We took three penalties that period, in addition to killing off a carry-over penalty. I just think we need to get to that 5 on 5 game where we are in the offensive zone, making plays and creating that way.”
