ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Bowling Green hockey fell second to teams in rankings only this season, repeatedly
demonstrating it belonged in the national conversation of elite.
BG — which was competing in its first NCAA tournament in 29 years — claimed a lead over No. 1 seed and
defending national champion Minnesota-Duluth Saturday, going stride for stride with the nation’s second
best team.
Despite a great start, the finish was eerily similar to last weekend’s collapse in the conference
championship game.
“It was the same situation, we couldn’t get the puck out with three minutes left. Then we ended up
shooting ourselves in the foot at the end there,” BG sophomore Max Johnson, who assisted the Falcons’
only goal, said.
BG stumbled into its own goal with three minutes to play in regulation and conceded another second-chance
goal in overtime in falling 2-1 to Minnesota-Duluth at the PPL Center in Allentown, Pa. on Saturday.
A Duluth shot deflected off of Ryan Bednard — who played sensational — in the closing minutes of
regulation, but the ricochet scooted in front of the frame. As Bednard moved to make a play on the loose
puck, Chris Pohlkamp skated in with the same idea, as his skate nudged the puck back and into the net to
tie the score at 1-1.
John Schilling had a breakaway attempt early in overtime, but his move was a bit too conservative and was
easily scooped up by Duluth’s Hunter Shepard.
Adam Smith ripped a shot from the blue line along the left boards, Schilling added a wrap-around and
Connor McDonald turned an intercept into a two-on-one chance for BG.
Nothing found the net, with the latter attempt being blocked by a sprawled out defender as McDonald eyed
a pass across the ice for an easy tap in.
“We don’t want to not finish off those opportunities in the future. We think we’ll have those
opportunities in the future and we need to be better prepared,” BG head coach Chris Bergeron said of the
tournament loss.
“Last Saturday was a complete meltdown. Tonight wasn’t that I didn’t think. But they were both games we
feel we should have closed out and finished properly. We had done it all year long. We’ve been pretty
good with the lead.”
Prior to last weekend’s collapse at Minnesota State, BG had racked up a 19-2-1 record when scoring first.
Over the past seven days the Falcons are 0-2 in those scenarios.
Duluth, which saw its senior captain Parker Mackay nab both goals, had a wealth of experience that BG
could not rely on.
“I’d like to see how much NCAA tournament hockey that senior class has played. Their experience made them
very difficult to play,” Bergeron said. “You cannot teach what they’ve been through. They acted like it.
We, hopefully as a program, are going to get a little bit more used to being in these situations so we
can act better when we’re there next time.”
Including Saturday, Duluth’s seniors have played in 11 NCAA tournament games. The Bulldogs won the title
last season and fell in the championship game in 2017.
The Falcons opened the game with an aggressiveness unmatched by Duluth. They were quick to the puck on
either side of the ice. Despite the Bulldogs ultimately matching the intensity over time, BG found the
net first.
Lukas Craggs found Max Johnson through the seam before Johnson — face first into the ice — knocked the
puck with his outstretched stick to fellow sophomore Brandon Kruse on his right. Kruse punished the puck
into the frame for a 1-0 lead.
“The way we have to play. We’re going to contest every inch of the ice, we’re going to fight you for it.
If your top guys don’t want to do that, then it’s going to be a difficult night,” Bergeron said. “We’ve
played two of the top teams in the (nation) last Saturday and this Saturday. I’m extremely proud of the
way they played.
“They didn’t stand there and take it. They fought hard and that’s who we want to be, that’s who we are.”

Bednard, despite taking the loss in goal, played arguably his best game of the game season. The junior
eliminated chance after chance, snagging missiles near his ear, blocking heavy shots with his legs and
covering nearly every puck in front of him.
His play almost single-handily kept BG ahead for much of the night.
“He’s been unreal for us. He’s the reason why we did so well this season, our team wouldn’t be where we
are without him backing us up,” Johnson said of Bednard. “He stops pucks, he stops pucks in big
situations.”
But history tends to repeat itself, and Saturday was no different. While the loss was hardly the same
disaster as the weekend prior, BG still conceded a lead in the game’s closing minutes.
Don’t expect the same thing next year.
“We were three minutes away from finishing the game the way we wanted to finish it,” Bergeron said.
“We’re going to be better for it.”