COLUMBUS — Team defense has been one of Bowling Green’s staples this
season.Unfortunately for the Falcons, they weren’t sharp defensively Tuesday against Ohio State.They had too
many turnovers and backchecking mistakes, resulting in a 5-3 nonleague loss at Value City Arena.The Buckeyes
had a far too easy time finding their way to the net and scoring their goals. BOX
SCOREBG goalie Tomas Sholl stopped 23 shots, but had little support from his
teammates.Chad Niddery scored from in front with 10:13 left to break a 3-3 tie and OSU held on. Darik Angeli
added an empty-net goal with 26.1 seconds left.Niddery’s goal came just 3:11 after BG tied the game on Bryce
Williamson’s power-play goal. Williamson scored his fifth goal of the season on his own rebound.BG dominated
the first 10 minutes, but only played well in spurts after that to fall to 2-2-2 overall. OSU, in avenging a
4-3 loss at BG Oct. 15, is 3-3.“Ohio State got exactly what it deserved and so did we,” BG coach Chris
Bergeron said.BG had allowed just five even-strength goals in its first give games.“Ultimately, we were way,
way, way too loose without the puck,” Bergeron said.The Falcons gave up at least four 2-on-1 rushes and one
breakaway in the game. BG also had too many turnovers.The Buckeyes have outstanding forwards.“When you do
that against teams like Ohio State, they’ll make you pay,” Bergeron said.The Falcons built a 1-0 lead on Dan
DeSalvo’s goal just 2:39 of the game, but OSU eventually took over during the final 10 minutes of the period
and carried the play throughout the second period.OSU tied the game on David Gust’s goal at 17:37 of the
first period and took a 2-1 lead on Ryan Dzingel’s goal at 17:07 of the second period.BG hurt itself with
penalties in the second period as it was short-handed five times for a total of 7:57.“You take penalties and
you let teams off the hook,” BG sophomore forward Ben Murphy said.The BG penalty-killing didn’t allow a goal
in five attempts.“The penalty-killing was good and Sholl was a big part of that,” Murphy said.The span
included a 35-second 5-on-3 for OSU, and major and game-disqualification penalties to BG’s Sean Walker, one
of the team’s best defenseman.The freshman was penalized for contact to the head/high-sticking. The DQ means
he’ll sit out Friday’s home game against Alaska-Anchorage. The teams also play Saturday to start the Western
Collegiate Hockey Association season.Walker came across the ice to hit a Buckeye near the BG blueline.“The
call was the call,” Bergeron said. “But at 5-foot-10, to hit somebody in the head, it’s got to be hands and
elbows. I thought at the very worst it was going to be interference. By no means did I think it would be a
DQ, but that’s what the call was.”Bergeron said he would ask WCHA officials if they can review the hit and
take away the DQ. But Bergeron thought once a DQ was awarded, it couldn’t be taken away.“I’m a believer DQs
are a big-time penalty in college hockey when you only play 38 games,” Bergeron said. “I still think … you
should give a game misconduct until you go to the video and make sure (it was a DQ). He’s 5-foot-10, so if
he hit somebody in the head, his hands must have got high and that’s not what I saw.”The Falcons were
out-played, even though they held a 31-28 edge in shots. BG’s power play was 1-of-5.“(Sholl) was a stud,”
Murphy said. “He stood on his head. He did what he had to do to stop the puck and make saves.”“His effort
was good,” Bergeron said of Sholl. “Unfortunately, the team in front of him wasn’t great tonight … at least
at times, we weren’t great.”Murphy’s fifth goal of the season tied the game just 1:37 into the third period,
but Nick Oddo gave OSU a 3-2 lead only 42 seconds later.“When we’re playing our best, we’re in all three
zones and there were spurts when we were good,” Murphy said. “We were dominant in the offensive zone when we
were playing our game. That was the purpose we showed. It wasn’t consistent.”