SYLVANIA — Bowling Green’s hockey team was overmatched Wednesday night.
The Bobcats had no answers for seventh-ranked St. John’s, losing a deceptively close 7-1 decision in the
quarterfinals of the district high school playoffs at Tam-O-Shanter.
Eric Brown had three goals and one assist, and Jake Kennedy added a goal and two assists for the Titans,
who played well and dominated with a 42-15 edge in shots.
The Titans scored twice in the first period, once in the second period and extended their lead to 6-0 in
the third period before Dylan Graves scored BG’s goal with just 7:01 left.
St. John’s dominated the special teams, going 2-for-6 on its power play and holding BG scoreless on all
eight of its attempts. The Titans also scored on a penalty shot.
The Bobcats finished the season 8-17-4 overall, setting the school record for the fewest wins and the
most losses in the 37-year history of the program. St. John’s is 22-10-2.
“They were good and we weren’t,” BG coach Dan DeWitt said. “We had too many mistakes in too many
different areas by too many people.”
BG played two close games against St. John’s during Northwest Hockey Conference Red Division play during
the regular season, losing 3-2 Dec. 11 at Tam-O-Shanter and playing to a 2-2 tie in the Ice Arena Jan.
30.
But Wednesday night, the Titans dominated with their speed and skill, and won most of the 1-on-1 battles.

“St. John’s played well and couple that with our performance, you end up with a lopsided score,” DeWitt
said. “It’s very disappointing.”
The Titans took a 2-0 lead in the first period on Brown’s penalty shot at 8:02 and Colin Suter’s goal at
12:09.
Brown was awarded the penalty shot when he was tripped on a breakaway after BG’s two defensemen collided
at center ice. He made a nice move on the penalty shot, faking the forehand and scoring with a
backhander from the left side of the crease.
Suter’s goal came on a low shot through traffic from the left circle.
The Bobcats had a chance to stay in the game on the power play, but couldn’t convert.
BG’s best chance on the power play came when it had the extra man for 3:11 late in the first period and
early in the second period, including a 43-second two-man advantage.
But St. John’s responded with excellent penalty-killing and limited BG to three shots, two from the right
point.
“If we could have scored there, we’re back in the game, but we didn’t,” DeWitt said.
The Titans then increased their lead to 3-0 on Brown’s power-play goal with 1:30 left in the second
period.
St. John’s made it 5-0 with two short-handed goals 58 seconds apart on the same penalty in the third
period. Brown scored at 2:57, followed by Austin Kelly at 3:55.
Kennedy’s power-play goal at 5:44 made it 6-0 at 5:44.
Graves then scored a short-handed goal for BG, blocking a point shot and then going in alone.
The Titans’ final goal was scored by Nate Baumgartner with three minutes left.
BG’s previous record for fewest wins was 11 in 1977, while the old record for the most losses was 14
three times (1990, 2008 and last season).
BG is scheduled to return 17 of its 23 players next season.
The losing record was BG’s second straight and third in the last four seasons.
“I want the guys coming back next year to realize where we’re at and make the commitment to get better,”
DeWitt said. “It doesn’t start at tryouts next year. It starts during the offseason.
“Every kid is going to make incremental improvements just because they’re at the age where they’re going
to grow and get stronger. But we need more than incremental improvement. We need significant improvement
from our players and the only way this is going to happen is we have all of our players make that
commitment to work hard over the summer. That’s when they’re going to make their biggest gains.”
ST. JOHN’S 7, BGHS 1
GOALS BY PERIOD
BGHS 0 0 1 —1
ST. JOHN’S 2 1 4 —7
FIRST PERIOD
Scoring: 1, SJ Brown (penalty shot) 8:02. 2, SJ Suter (Kennedy) 12:09.
SECOND PERIOD
Scoring: 3, SJ Brown (Ryan) 13:30 (5-4 pp).
THIRD PERIOD
Scoring: 4, SJ Brown (Kennedy) 2:57 (4-5 sh). 5, SJ Kelly (Suter) 3:55 (4-5 sh). 6, SJ Kennedy (Brown,
Wurst) 5:44 (5-4 pp). 7, BG Graves (unassisted) 7:59 (4-5 sh). 7, SJ Baumgartner (Scott, Pfeifer) 12:00.

SAVES BY PERIOD
Gay, BG 12 7 16 —35
Steltman, SJ 4 6 4 —14
Goalie statistics (goals against/minutes played): (BG) Gay 7/45; (SJ) Steltman 1/45.
Penalties-Minutes: BG 9-18, SJ 9-26.
Power plays: BG 0-8, SJ 2-6.