Bowling Green’s hockey team played well for the second straight game against
second-ranked Ohio State on Sunday.
And for the second time in less than 24 hours, the Falcons were rewarded with two
points in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association standings.
They played OSU to a 1-1 tie through overtime and then won a shootout before a crowd
of 1,830 at the Ice Arena.
Marc Rodriguez’s goal in the fifth round gave the Falcons a 2-1 win in the shootout.
PHOTO
GALLERY
BG
earned four of the six points in the series, thanks to its shootout win Saturday
following a 2-2 tie through overtime
Teams receive two points for a shootout win and one point for a shootout loss.
Regulation and overtime wins are worth three points, but no points are earned for a
loss in regulation or OT.
Since the NCAA doesn’t recognize shootouts as a way of breaking ties, games decided
in a shootout are counted as ties on the record of each team.
On Sunday, the Falcons sent the game into the five-minute overtime on Cam Wojtala’s
power-play, extra-attacker goal with just 56 seconds remaining in regulation.

OSU had taken a 1-0 lead on Chris Crane’s goal at 11:31 of the second period.
The Falcons fashioned a 39-32 edge in shots in a game highlighted by the excellent
goaltending of BG’s Andrew Hammond and OSU’s Cal Heeter.
“Our effort was good and, for the most part, we executed within the game plan we’re
trying to bring to the table most nights,” BG coach Chris Bergeron said. “It’s
nice to see they’re gaining some momentum individually and collectively as a
team. I don’t want this to be our expectations. We want it to be theirs. We want
them to be proud of themselves and each other.
“It’s two ties, but the fact is we fought back through adversity, good and bad, and
found a way to keep pushing.”
BG’s performance Sunday was even more impressive because OSU was much improved over
Saturday when it was out-shot by a 37-20 margin and had to score twice in the
final four minutes of regulation just to reach overtime
“The big thing we showed (Saturday) is we could play with them. (Sunday), our biggest
goal was to raise the bar,” said Hammond, who stopped 49-of-52 shots in the
series. “I don’t know if we did that, but we played with the same intensity and
work ethic.”
Wojtala’s goal, his first since Nov. 11, came from in front on a wild and prolonged
scramble.
Ryan Carpenter and Adam Berkle dug the puck away from Heeter off to the right of the
crease, and the puck squirted to Wojtala. Wojtala said the goal banked in off an
OSU player.
“I don’t think there was any doubt (in our minds) tonight and we’re really making
strides with that,” Wojtala said. “We’ve been able to keep our intensity up the
whole game. We’re making our breaks happen instead of hoping they happen. It’s a
real step forward for us to take some positives out of this weekend and keep
moving forward with those.”
The Falcons also held OSU scoreless on all five of its power-play attempts, the last
coming with 1:28 left in overtime on BG’s second bench minor of the game for too
many men. OSU’s Sean Duddy then was called for high-sticking just 58 seconds
later. BG’s power play was 1-of-2.
“We won the special teams … most nights, that’s the difference,” Bergeron said.
Although BG remained winless in its last 12 games overall (0-8-4) and last 15 league
games (0-11-4), it played well against OSU and in four of its six periods the
previous weekend at Bemidji State.
“We just kept coming,” Bergeron said. “Relentless is the word we use around here and
we were that for the most part last night and tonight. I was proud of our guys.
They stood there face to face … competed with them at a really high level
That’s what we want to be as a team, as a program.”
BG played the OSU series without forward Brett Mohler, who is out with a sore back.
The Falcons also were without forward Dan DeSalvo on Sunday, the result of a
game-disqualification penalty on Saturday for checking from behind. They’re two
of BG’s best players.
BG is 6-13-5 overall and 1-11-4-3 in the CCHA. OSU is 14-4-3, 10-3-3-1. The Buckeyes
lead the league with 34 points, good for a six-point margin over Notre Dame and
Western Western Michigan.
BGSU 1, OHIO STATE 1, TIE
GOALS BY PERIOD
OHIO STATE 0 1 0 0 —1
BGSU 0 0 1 0 —1
(BGSU won shootout 2-1 in five rounds)
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: None.
Penalties: Dries, OSU, elbowing, 4:21; BG bench, too many men, 9:38.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 1, OSU Crane 12 (McCormick, Dzingel) 11:31.
Penalties: Berkle, BG, roughing, 1:12; Wallace, BG, tripping, 14:10; Crane, OSU,
roughing after the whistle, 14:55; Perrier, BG, roughing after the whistle,
14:55.
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 2, BG Wojtala 4 (Berkle) 19:04 (6-4 pp,ex).
Penalties: McIntosh, BG, slashing, 4:23; Angeli, OSU, unsportsmanlike conduct/diving,
4:23; Sloat, BG, elbowing, 15:55; Schneider, OSU, interference, 18:42.
OVERTIME
Scoring: None.
Penalties: BG bench, too many men, 3:22; Duddy, OSU, high-sticking, 4:20.
SHOOTOUT
OSU: Szezchura, no goal; Krogh, no goal; Dries, no goal; Oddo, goal; McCormick, no
goal.
BG: Williamson, no goal; Carpenter, no goal; Wojtala, no goal; Berkle, goal;
Rodriguez, goal.
SAVES BY PERIOD
Heeter, OSU 7 15 13 3 —38
Hammond, BG 8 14 7 2 —31
Goalie statistics (goals against/minutes played): (OSU) Heeter 1/65; (BG) Hammond
1/65.
Penalties-Minutes: OSU 5-10, BG 7-14. Power plays: OSU 0-5, BG 1-2. Attendance:
2,012.