| Falcon hockey ends winless streak at Alaska (1-21-11) |
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| Written by Sentinel Sports Staff |
| Saturday, 21 January 2012 03:24 |
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FAIRBANKS, Alaska — Bowling Green’s hockey team ended two long winless streaks Friday night. Andrew Hammond made 27 saves, and Cam Wojtala, Adam Berkle and Marc Rodriguez scored goals in the Falcons’ 3-1 win over the University of Alaska. The win snapped BG’s winless streak at 12 games overall (0-8-4) and 15 games in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (0-11-4). The Falcons’ last win overall came Nov. 12 against Canisius and their last CCHA victory came in their opener, Oct. 21 against Lake Superior. BG played well at times and never trailed against Alaska, but still was out-shot, 28-14. The Falcons are 7-13-5 overall and 2-11-4-3 in the CCHA. UA is 7-12-4, 4-11-2. “Our process and the details to our game weren’t great,” BG coach Chris Bergeron said. “We were opportunistic around the net, and took advantage of a couple of pretty good plays and some good goaltending. All in all, a great win in a difficult place to play. But we can still improve on our execution and overall intensity.” The Falcons had played well during most of their last four games, including two ties Jan. 7-8 against nationally-ranked Ohio State. BG is 1-0-2 in its last three games. “We were due to win a game like that,” Bergeron said. “We’ve probably played better than our record indicates, getting a win like that is nice. “But when you’re building a program and as you’re trying to create a culture, it’s about the small, little details, it’s about the process and I want to keep those things in line. We deserved that win, but there are things we can learn from and improve on.” BG — as often happens to visiting teams following the long trip to Fairbanks — struggled during the first period and was out-shot 11-4. But Hammond played well and Wojtala scored the only goal at 6:39. “We handled that early storm pretty well and stuck to our game,” Bergeron said. “(Wojtala’s) goal took some of the pressure off.” BG increased its lead to 3-0 in the second period on goals from Berkle just 25 seconds into the period and Rodriguez on the power play at 6:40. Hammond lost his shutout with just 1:52 left in the game on Chad Gehon’s power-play goal. He had 10 saves in the first period and added 13 stops in the third period. “He was really strong,” Bergeron said. BG was 1-of-4 on the power play and killed off five of UA’s six chances with the extra man. Rodriguez has scored in two straight games after missing the first 20 games with a shoulder injury, while Wojtala has a goal in two of the last three games after going 10 games without a goal. Berkle’s goal was his first since Oct. 21. Berkle also assisted on Rodriguez’s goal. Off the ice, BG received a verbal commitment for next season from Raifs Freibergs, a defenseman for the Lincoln Stars, in the United States (Junior) Hockey League. Freibergs, who is from Riga, Latvia, has seven goals and 12 assists, and on-ice rating of plus-eight in 33 games. He also has three power-play goals. He’s 5-foot-11, 180, pounds and turns 21 on May 17. The addition of Freibergs gives BG at least seven new players (four forwards, three defensemen) for next season. BGSU 3, ALASKA 1 GOALS BY PERIOD BGSU 1 2 0 —3 ALASKA 0 0 1 —1 FIRST PERIOD Scoring: 1, BG Wojtala 5 (Sinclair, Williamson) 6:39. Penalties: Sloat, BG, tripping, 11:25; Perrier, BG, cross-checking, 14:28. SECOND PERIOD Scoring: 2, BG Berkle 2 (DeSalvo, Carpenter) 0:25 (5-4 pp). 3, BG Rodriguez 2 (Berkle, Shea) 6:40 (5-4 pp). Penalties: Meyers, UA, boarding, 3:24; Youngmun, UA, cross-checking, 5:14; Williamson, BG, kneeing, 6:44; Gehon, UA, roughing, 17:15; Sumsion, BG, roughing after the whistle, 17:15; Enders, UA, roughing after the whistle, 17:15. THIRD PERIOD Scoring: 4, UA Gens 2 (Kunyk, Taranto) 18:08 (5-4 pp). Penalties: Kucera, BG, hooking, 0:29; BG bench, too many men, 10:28; Kucera, BG, roughing after the whistle, 14:25; Gehon, UA, roughing after the whistle, 14:25; Sumsion, BG, holding, 18:05. SAVES BY PERIOD Hammond, BG 11 4 12 —27 Thompson, UA 3 6 X — 9 Cahill, UA X X 2 — 2 Goalie statistics (goals against/minutes played): (BG) Hammond 1/60; (UA) Thompson 3/40, Cahill 0/18:47, Empty net 0/1:13. Penalties-Minutes: BG 8-16, UA 6-12. Power plays: BG 1-4, UA 1-6. Attendance: 2,938. |
| Last Updated on Saturday, 21 January 2012 03:27 |
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